


The Alpha Luna

by Shinigaminx



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Mating Bond, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:15:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28804902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinigaminx/pseuds/Shinigaminx
Summary: Proud and protective, Aiden Clairborne secretly leads a pack of werewolves, hidden high in the Colorado hills.  Michael Tolliver, Alpha for the Southwest, is in search of a missing pack.  They find each other, and their mate bond, but danger, betrayal and tests of their love await them.  What will become of the Alpha and his Alpha Luna.
Relationships: Aiden Clairborne/Michael Tolliver
Kudos: 1





	1. Aiden

**Aiden**

Aiden stood on the porch, clenching and unclenching her fists, her jaw set tight. Her gaze was leveled at the black SUV winding down the dirt road into the center of her little town. Steps thudded on the wooden porch next to her. She took a long slow breath in through her nose and rolled her shoulders. Unclenching her fists, she instead hooked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans. The tall, broad shouldered older man who stood next to her also gazed at the car.

“So who is it?”

Aiden almost swore. Not at Duncan, never at Duncan. But at the asshole in that oncoming car, and whatever trouble he brought with him to her pack.

“Maynard, who else?”

The car slowed to a stop in front of the pack house, and sat silent for a moment. Then, the passenger door opened and Alpha Jim Maynard stepped out. The first thing he did was spit on the ground. Aiden’s hackles itched, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Giving anything away to this asshole would be too much.

Seriously? Who calls on another Alpha with 15 bloody minutes notice? Aiden almost grimaced, almost let her frustration show. Therein lies the rub. She wasn’t an Alha. She was just a Luna. And not even a real one, at that.

The driver’s side door opened. Aiden stood ramrod straight. Her breathing was slow and deliberate, her shoulders were pulled back, and she could feel herself trying to take up as much space as she physically could. It was a useless endeavor, she realized. The man who climbed out of the SUV was taller and broader than she could ever hope to be. And unless she missed her guess, he was an Alpha of some consequence. Gravity rolled off of him. Maynard and the stranger stopped halfway to the stairs. Aiden released a breath slowly and then sauntered down the three steps that raised her above the two men.

Maynard, she knew. His greasy sandy blonde hair was plastered to his head, as per usual. The slacks and the button down, on the other hand…. Huh. This must be some big shot, to get Maynard out of his stained jeans and nasty tee shirts. With some trepidation, Aiden forced herself to give the tall man with black hair a slow, thorough look, and didn’t bother to hide it.

She took in his shiny black shoes, grey suit pants on long, long legs, his maroon button up hiding strength behind respectability, and finally, his face. Her stomach did a slow roll as her eyes moved up to his strong chin and full lips. Her own lips pressed in a tight line, and she couldn’t stop herself. The question raced through her mind- what might those lips feel like?

She mentally shook herself. What the hell. Then realized- she was still staring at his lips. She forced her gaze up, up to his eyes. She almost turned around and ran. His eyes were a bright and piercing green. She felt like he could see her entire soul.

The wind shifted and brought his scent to hers. Yup. Alpha, and a strong one, she’d wager. And whew, it had been a long time since she smelled a man, a wolf, who wasn’t from her pack or Maynard’s. Because he smelled like pine and campfire smoke, and tea and old books. It was a complex scent, layered and intense. And if she was willing to admit it to herself, it was damned appealing. It hooked her behind her belly button and tried to drag her forward, to meet this man toe to toe, and see who won.

Aiden didn’t move forward. She did take her nose out of the air. She could have sworn humor flashed through his green eyes. Did he know she’d been scenting him?

Maynard sneered at her. Not down, just at. At a tall and gawky 5’11”, Aiden knew she stood toe to toe with most men and towered over most women. It had been both a blessing and a curse.

“Clairborne.” His voice dripped with disdain.

“Maynard.” Hers was bored and unimpressed. She made sure it was. She refused to turn her eyes back to the unsettling man next to Maynard.

“That’s Alpha Maynard, you-“

Another SUV was coming down the road. If the sentries hadn’t stopped it at the border, it must be full of Maynard’s men.

Maynard chuckled, a nasty sound. “Clairborne, this is Alpha Tolliver. He is the Alpha for the Southwest.”

Aiden stilled as the second SUV pulled to a stop.

That didn’t make sense. She had met the Alpha for the Colorado area. Only a couple of….. years ago, she realized. Damn. This was potentially very, very bad.

“Alpha Tolliver.” Aiden made sure to use his title. Unlike Maynard, this one she didn’t particularly want to antagonize.

Particularly.

She took another step forward, and held out her hand. He took it. His skin was warm, his hands calloused and strong. Electricity skittered up her arm from the contact. She would swear he felt it too, his eyes momentarily darkening and increasing in intensity.

“Thank you for allowing me to visit your pack.” The voice was…. bored, but also maybe not? What was that second note she heard?

“May I ask your name, Miss….?”

“Aiden Clairborne. And it’s Luna, Alpha. Luna Clairborne.” She held her head high, daring either of them to argue with her title.

This time she was sure that she had shocked him. His eyes went ever so slightly wider, and the green darkened even more. He looked more intrigued now than he had before. Although…. there was something else that she couldn’t put her finger on. Disappointment, maybe? But why?


	2. Michael

**Michael**

Michael seethed inside. He intensely disliked this man. Alpha Jim Maynard was the local pack leader, and reported to Michael. Michael was the Alpha for all of the Southwest, which included Colorado. Michael was the New Alpha. His father had stepped down, and Michael had defeated all his challengers, although there hadn’t been many. His father had been well liked and respected. Werewolves all over the state had seen him as an intelligent and careful leader, and he had raised his son to have the same values he did. Michael had large shoes to fill. After consolidating his Beta and lieutenants in Denver, he began to visit each local pack leader. It had taken about two weeks and he only had 3 packs left to see. The BlackMountain Pack, led by Jim Maynard, was his current host.

Maynard was a suck-up, and that irritated Michael to no end. He also was clearly, cleary uneasy with Michael’s presence. Michael didn’t know why yet, but he intended to find out.

They were currently in Michael’s suv, on their way out to visit a pack that didn’t exist.

The MoonValley pack had stopped showing up in paperwork for this area about 5 years ago, and as far as Michael had been able to find, there was no explanation why. He had questioned Maynard about it, and the man had given several evasive answers, before admitting that the MoonValley pack still existed. He hadn’t given an explanation that satisfied Michael, and he had ordered Maynard to take him out to the pack.

It was a long drive into the woods on the foothills of the Rockies. And when they were about 15 minutes from their destination, Maynard had whipped out a cell phone and placed a call.

“Tell Clairborne that she better meet me outside in 15 minutes. I have a VIP with me, so she better behave.”

Michael gave Maynard a long side eye. That was one way to run an area, but Michael wasn’t a fan. And why was he asking for the Luna, not the Alpha?

They finished their drive on a long dirt road. There was nothing but woods, then slowly there started being houses tucked back off the road. They looked old, but well cared for. One house was having it’s roof replaced right now.

Finally they pulled up in front of a large two story log cabin. On the porch stood the Alpha and Luna of the MoonValley pack.

They were an interesting couple. He was very tall, and very broad shouldered. So was she. The Luna was a tall, lanky woman, with long muscles. She had a coppery mane of curls pulled up in a high ponytail, and it let him see the woman’s long neck and stubborn jaw. She had high cheekbones, and Michael startled himself when he wondered what it would feel like to touch her.

Maynard slammed open the door and got out. Michael gritted his teeth and stepped out as well, although he didn’t slam anything. Maynard spit on the ground. He was a cretin. Michael was going to have to do something about him.

The Luna, not the Alpha, walked down the steps, then stood there, tall and tense. She was trying to look relaxed, but it wasn’t working very well on Michael. He was intensely aware of her presence, only a few feet from his. 

She seemed equally aware of Michael. She gazed at him, starting with his shoes and moving all the way up to his eyes. He swore her eyes fastened onto his lips for one long second, then moved up to his. Her gaze was challenging but not hostile.

Then the wind shifted. It came from his back and rushed over the woman in front of him. And her hazel eyes went ever so slightly wider, and then desire lidded them, before being chased away by an interruption from Maynard. Interesting.

Maynard spat out,

“Clairborne.”

She answered, “ Maynard.” sounding like she thought this was boring her.

Michael turned and watched an SUV come down the road towards them. It stopped, turned around, and parked two car lengths ahead of the other cars on the road. Closer to the exit. Interesting and more interesting.

Michael tuned back into the conversation in next to him in time to hear Maynard say,

“Clairborne, this is Alpha Tolliver. He is the Alpha for the Southwest.”

Clairborne. Her name was Clairborne.

The woman in front of him stiffened, and something about her changed. More fierce and more scared at the same time. He wasn’t so sure why he knew that, but he was sure of it.

“Alpha Tolliver.”

She stepped forward, and offered her hand. His skin began to prickle and then he reached out to take her hand. It was like lightning rushed up his arm and into his chest and he knew. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew.

She was his mate.

His thoughts raced. She couldn’t be his mate. She was a Luna, that meant she had a mate. How could she be his mate?

But he had never been more certain of anything in his life. This was his mate, and he wanted her. Desperately. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to learn her inside and out. He wanted to hear her voice, and sleep curled around her, guarding her all night.

He couldn’t think straight. He managed to get out, “Thank you for allowing me to visit your pack.” He tried to sound as calm as possible, but he knew it came out in a monotone. Next he asked, “May I ask your name, Miss….?”

He knew she was the Luna here, but he wanted to hear her say it. She responded, “Aiden Clairborne. And it’s Luna, Alpha. Luna Clairborne.”

Her chin rose as she told him of her status as the Luna, proud and firm. He was enchanted. He was also incredibly disappointed. How could his mate have a mate already?

Michael noticed Maynard slowly moving towards the second suv, and looking uneasy. He said, “Well, have a good visit, Alpha Tolliver. Clairborne.” He managed to sound ingratiating and nasty at the same time. What a talent.

Maynard turned around and quickly walked to the suv, getting into the passenger’s seat and barked something at the driver. They quickly sped off.

Michael let him go and turned back to Aiden. Aiden Clairborne.

She looked slightly shocked, her hazel eyes wide. She had long lashes, the same copper as her hair. Her skin looked so soft.

She finally took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. Turning to Michael, she said, “How can I help you, Alpha Tolliver.” It wasn’t actually a question. She was hard now, unyielding but polite.

“I’m here to correct some information for the area packs. According to our records, this pack died out 5 years ago.”

Her eyes were steely. She said, “I’m sorry, Alpha Tolliver, I didn’t realize. We are a very small pack, and we don’t control much territory. I suppose we don’t matter much. Maybe that’s why we weren’t listed.”

He considered it, turning it over carefully. It was plausible, he supposed. He didn’t really believe it though. There was something not quite right here, and he was going to uncover it. He decided. He was going to ask to see the Alpha. The large man still stood, stock still, on the porch. If he was the Alpha, what he was doing was incredibly rude. Did Aiden have a terrible mate?

“I would like to speak to Alpha Clairborne.”

She sighed. “I understand. I can give you any information you need. The Alpha won’t be home till this evening.”

That meant the man on the porch wasn’t her mate. Something in Michael was fiercely pleased by that.

She stopped, then asked, with some hesitance in her voice, “Would you care to join us for dinner, Alpha Tolliver?”

Michael’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest at the thought of working and eating with Aiden. It was intoxicating, but he had to remember, he couldn’t have her.

“I would enjoy that very much, Luna Clairborne.” Why had he said that? He wasn’t going to enjoy this at all.


	3. Aiden

**Aiden**

What on earth and under the moon had caused her to ask him to dinner? Why hadn’t she fended off a few bureaucratic questions, then sent him on his way? What was she thinking?

She had been thinking that the strategy she and Duncan had decided on wasn’t going to work with this Alpha. She doubted he’d be put off by a few excuses.

Aiden led the Alpha into the building, intensely away of his presence. He was so close, it seemed. Although, she wasn’t sure how far she would have to move away to escape his magnetism. She couldn’t help but sneak glances at him, and she felt an intense need to rearrange her ponytail, and make herself more presentable. She wasn’t sure why, this was a foreign feeling. She desperately wanted to take his hand, so close to her, as they walked into a large dining room. It was open to a large kitchen on one side. Everything was made of wood, and looked well worn and well cared for. An older woman stood in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled delicious. She turned and smiled as they walked in.

“Oh, hello Aiden. Did you get that mess taken care of-” The woman stopped abruptly as Michael’s large form came to a stop next to Aiden. She suddenly looked uneasy, but tried to hide it with a big, welcoming smile. “Oh hello, please excuse my manners. Who is your guest, Aiden?”

Aiden wanted to curse. Of course Lana would never have expected Aiden to bring Maynard, of all fucking people, in. It made sense for her to be unprepared. Oh well, they were going to have to do this on the fly. “This is the Southwest Alpha Tolliver. Alpha Tolliver, this is Lana, our den mother.” Den mother wasn’t a real title, but Aiden had been calling Lana that since shortly after her own mother had passed away. The woman had always been a loving presence in her life, and Aiden was incredibly grateful to her. Guiltily she hoped nothing would happen to her.

Lana gasped and her eyes went wide. “Alpha…. Tolliver. Are you Alpha Tolliver’s oldest, Michael?”

The man next to her tensed, but Aiden was pretty sure she was the only one who noticed.

“I’m afraid you know who I am, but I don’t know your name. Please-” The intense warmth left her side as the tall, black haired man swept into the dining room, over the low dividing wall, and held out his hand. “You are, Miss….?”

Lana giggled and smiled. “Please, it’s Mrs. Actually, It’s Lana, and I keep this packhouse running!” She said it as the point of pride it was. Lana had been keeping this pack house running for damn near 10 years, and would probably keep it running for another 10. Aiden didn’t know why she was so giggly though.

“Lana,” Michael said with a slow smile, “I feel as if we’ve met before, but I can’t place my finger on where or when.”

Wide eyes flickered to Aiden, asking what Lana should do. Her stomach clenched at the sight of the Alpha's smile. Aiden gave a miniscule shrug, but had the nagging feeling that Michael…. His name was Michael Tolliver. Aiden turned that over in her mind briefly before returning to the moment. She was pretty sure Alpha Tolliver hadn’t missed a thing. Lana turned back to him with a giant smile. “Oh, I used to bounce you when you were just a little thing! I was good friends with the woman who ran the BattleFang packhouse!”

Aiden felt Michael freeze from across the room, then he seemed to relax. She couldn’t see his face, but she heard the warmth in his voice as he said, “Not Nanna? Well- I suppose she was just Missy to you.”

Lana squealed and hurried around the counter, before enveloping him in a warm hug, chattering the whole time. “My goodness, how tall you’ve grown, and so strong! Your momma and daddy must be so proud of you! Welcome to our home, please, you must stay for dinner. Actually, it’s late, you must stay the night-” 

Everyone stopped.

  
  


Aiden heaved a sigh. Oh well, here they went. “Yes, Lana, he can stay overnight, and you can stuff him full of all the food you want.” This was going to be fun, she thought darkly.

Michael- Alpha Tolliver, she was going to think of this man as Alpha Tolliver. She was going to think of him as an Alpha. Alphas were trouble for her small pack. And honestly, she wasn’t sure how much of a problem this one was going to be yet. But she was positive that if she let her guard down for a second, he would see.

He turned back to face her, a considering look in his eye. Oh crap, she had just said he could stay, in the pack house, without asking her “Alpha.” Oh well, he was going to meet Noah sooner or later anyway. She fought the urge to throw her hands up and stalk from the room in frustration. After everything she had done to protect her pack, from fucking Maynard’s father, then from Maynard himself, and yes, even from Michael- Alpha Tolliver’s father.

They looked so much alike. But the son was a vivid, earthy version of his father. Aiden mentally shook herself, and forced a pleasant smile. At least she hoped it was a pleasant smile. Being this close to the Alpha was making her head swim in a way that his father, and that asshole Maynard, never had.

“Won’t you come into the living room, Alpha Tolliver? Dinner will be in about 45 minutes, and Lana needs time to work her magic.” She shot a reassuring look over his shoulder, hoping to soothe a worried Lana. She could feel the woman’s nerves from here.

Quickly she moved around the long table, set for 13- Lana would have to make it 14. She opened the doors at the far end of the room, revealing a large, comfortable room with a roaring fireplace taking the November chill out of the air. “We can sit in here. Lana, drinks please?”

Lana nodded and beamed. “Absolutely, dear! Alpha Tolliver, what can I bring you?”

Michael shook his head fondly at the older woman. “Please, it’s Michael. Any friend of Missy’s, especially one so charming as you, must call me Michael.”

Aiden froze. Her eyes tracked back and forth from Lana to their guest, considering, weighing her options, and she didn’t like a damn one of them.

He was…. Striking. Aiden couldn’t help but admit that. She felt an intense pull to him that she didn’t really understand, but felt powerless again. And she didn’t like feeling powerless. Her life as an Alpha’s oldest child, in the backwoods of Colorado, had been both easy and sweet, until five years ago. Since then it had been one long, difficult road, full of one emergency or another.

Lana and Michael- Alpha Tolliver, she sternly reminded herself. Lana and Alpha Tolliver settled drink orders, and he turned to face her. She stood aside and gestured for him to precede her into the living room. Exactly like a good submissive Luna would do, she thought wryly. Well, he was going to learn better soon enough. She was no shrinking violet, to let Alphas walk all over her and her people. She had held off Maynard and his “subtle” incursions into their territory for a damn long time now. She would figure out a solution to this new crisis.

“Please, Alpha Tolliver, have a seat.” Aiden gestured to a couch, placed facing the fire, with it’s back to the doors. She was curious whether or not having his back to the door would bother him. It sure as shit bothered her. The tall man- Taller than her, she noticed again. Not by much, 3 or 4 inches, but it was enough. She felt…. Small, delicate, feminine, next to this man.

And it pissed her off.

She watched him fold himself into the couch, showing no discomfort with the fact that he had his back to the doors, or that she still towered over him. Now. Now she felt gangly and awkward, like the teenager she had been, whose limbs didn’t all fit quite right. She dropped herself into her favorite armchair, next the fire and facing the couch and the door.

His smooth voice felt like it was physically flowing over her skin and she had to stop herself from shivering. What was going on?

“Please, call me Michael. Luna Clairborne, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He did not offer his hand again, and Aiden was honestly thankful. Her skin prickled. It was so warm in here.

“It’s a pleasure to host the Southwest Alpha...” she trailed off, then her jaw set. “Michael. It’s a pleasure to host you.”

Oh, how she wished she meant those words.

Lana bustled in, delivering drinks, then left, closing the doors softly behind her. Aiden shocked herself by wanting to scream at the idea of being left alone with this man. It felt simultaneously deadly unsafe, and soft, comforting, soothing.

Aiden fidgeted, not knowing what to do with herself. She didn’t know what to say to him, but she didn’t want to give the game up yet. It was probably better if he stayed the night and saw Noah this evening. At least if he was supposed to be staying here, he probably wouldn’t storm out in a huff when they met. Well. It would be highly, highly offensive to accept their hospitality, then storm out. He didn’t seem the type to do that, although she wasn’t sure why that seemed so obvious to her.

“Tell me Luna Clairborne- is it training that keeps your mate out so late?”

Aiden felt her eyes widen and her skin flush. She couldn’t help it. She stuttered out, “Um, y- yes. He is training with the young wolves of the pack today. They are on a long distance run.”

She realized that she was being rude. “And it’s Aiden. Luna Clairborne is such a mouthful.”

He smiled. It slowly stretched up from his mouth to his eyes, and the shade of green shifted again. Oh dear. She was so scared of this man, and so, so attracted to him. This hadn’t happened in such a damn long time, she didn’t know how to handle it.

“Aiden. Tell me about your-” he paused, and continued, “pack. This is such beautiful country, but so remote.”

She could swear he had been about to say “tell me about yourself”, but of course that would be improper without having met and cleared it with her Alpha first, she thought bitterly. Of course, the Alpha of the BattleFang pack was like the rest of them. Authoritarian, sexist, cemented to the past. Would she never be free of men like these?

“We are a small pack, Alpha. We have 32 men, 38 women, and….” She thought hard. Who had had pups lately? She knew Jessie had just delivered, so it must be- “17 pups. Many of our couples are older, and their children have moved on to other packs.”

Which was, realistically speaking, part of the problem. Pups kept meeting their damn mates, and moving to other packs. At least all of them had, so far at least, all heard her dire warnings about what would befall the MoonValley, what would befall their parents, if they talked about the pack indiscreetly. But that meant her pack was small, and getting smaller as well as older.

On the couch, Michael seemed…. impressed? Possibly. But why?

“I wish I knew our total numbers that quickly, although I suspect that people join, or leave with their mates, more often than happens to your pack.”

His smooth compliment, then his reminder that her pack was small, tiny even, made her remember again. He could hurt them. Badly, if he wanted too.

“Well, everyone wants to be part of the BattleFang Pack, especially under your father. Is he….” she paused, unsure what she wanted to ask. Well? Alive? What had he told Michael, if anything at all?

“He is quite well. My mother passed away several years ago, and he recently met his new mate. He stepped down to spend more time with her, and less running the pack.”

That…. made sense actually. If Jack, the former BattleFang Alpha, Michael’s father, had simply…. forgotten to inform Michael of this pack’s unique status, then maybe they could pull this off after all. Maybe she could pull it off. She gritted her teeth and smiled, although she was pretty sure it looked more like baring her fangs. Diplomacy was not her strong suit.

“Congratulations on your victory. Was it recent?” She didn’t actually want to know anything about him. Every piece of knowledge felt like a shim, prying her control free. At the same time, she was desperately hungry to know him better.

“It was about 4 months ago. My tour of the packs was delayed by some treaty negotiations with the Alpha of Mexico. But I’m glad to be making the rounds now.”

  
“How are the southern packs faring?”

“Well, the treaty negotiations concluded satisfactorily for all. How is your pack?”

Aiden couldn’t decide if this was easy, or intolerable. As the oldest child of the MoonValley pack’s Alpha, she had learned diplomacy and etiquette early. It had always been assumed she would need those skills, once she found her mate, and moved to another pack. Well, that hadn’t gone exactly as planned.

“We are very well, Alpha Tolliver, thank you. We have abundant hunting, our wood workers make beautiful furniture to sell. We recently got high speed internet all the way up here.” Aiden didn’t scowl, but she thought about it. She had had to fight tooth and nail with Maynard to make that happen. Almost literally.

Turns out, it was hard to get internet up to a town that was only occasionally on maps, even local ones.

“I see.” Michael said, and something was…. Off. She wasn’t sure what, but something seemed to have upset him. Damn. Where had Duncan gone? Duncan was better at this schmoozing thing than she was. For the millionth time, Aiden bemoaned her lack of a mindlink with the Beta of her pack.

Fortunately, said Beta walked in a moment later. Aiden resisted the urge to heave an enormous sigh of relief, and looked at Michael under her lashes. What did he think was going on here? Well, he’d find out soon enough. He stood, and turned to face Duncan.

Dear Duncan. Her protector, her confidante, the other half of her brain. But not her mate. He was a tall man, with big shoulders and big hands. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled, as if he had been running his hands through it. She knew that gesture, she had seen it a thousand times in her life. He had been her father’s Beta, and was now hers. Well. He was now Noah’s. She let her eyes linger on the man in the doorway, thankful for the man whose shoulders had carried her and her siblings, the hands that had patched scrapes and brushed away tears, the kind smile.

Duncan wasn’t smiling now though. He nodded curtly to her and said, “Lana would like to see you in the other room, Luna.”

Aiden nodded, both elated and heartbroken. She didn’t want to leave the presence of this man. This wolf. She was unbearably aware of his presence, and it was far too distracting to be safe. In this closed space, his scent had strengthened, and she found herself leaning into it, as she thought sadly about leaving him.

Wait, what? Leaving him? They were going to have dinner in half an hour. It wasn’t like she was leaving him forever. A spike of pain shot through her at the thought of leaving him forever. What was going on?

She was just going to make sure the right people were present. Duncan would have notified everyone who needed to be there, and carefully sequestered the people who needed more… privacy. Aiden just needed to check.

Duncan gave her one last nod, as if to confirm that yes, everything was taken care of. Aiden stood. She started to walk around the couch, but a gentle touch on her wrist stayed her. Her hair stood on end, but with excitement, not dread. She stared, dumbfounded, at where Michael’s large hand gently encircled her wrist. Slowly, her eyes tracked up his arm, across his strong chest and shoulders, and up. They briefly got hung up on his mouth, with thoughts of what she’d like his lips to be doing. Finally, she raised her eyes to his. What was his expression? It was almost…. Tender? Fierce? She couldn’t wrap her mind around this wolf. His eyes came up and held hers. She was drowning in a green storm.

A low rumble rolled through the room. She and Michael broke eye contact and he dropped her wrist like it was hot when he saw that Duncan had been the source of the sound. Her eyes remained trained on his face, and a myriad of emotions crossed it. Chagrin, defiance, hunger, frustration.

Aiden pulled away and hurried around the couch to stand next to Duncan. “Thank you, Beta Duncan. Could you host our guest for the next few moments?”

“Yes, Luna.” Duncan emphasized her title, ever so slightly. She knew that Michael would think it was about him touching her- Touching another Alpha’s Luna? She couldn’t imagine why he had done it.

With that, she made her escape.


	4. Michael

**Michael**

Silence fell over the large room, the fire crackling away merry in the background. Michael and Duncan stared impassively, but not antagonistically, at each other. Studied each other. The older man finally ran his hand over his face and made his way further into the room. Walking to one cabinet in the back corner, a small discreet affair, he asked over his shoulder, “D’you wanna drink?”

Michael had to fight not to let his breath huff out in release. He had felt pinned like a bug by that bayful gaze. This Beta was a hell of a Beta. If he was this strong, who was their Alpha?

“Uh- yeah. Whatever you’re having.” The other man paused, almost imperceptibly, then nodded and poured them both whiskey, neat. He strode across the room back to Michael and handed him a glass, before dropping into a well worn leather chair, one he was clearly used to occupying.

Directly next to the chair Aiden had been sitting in a few moments ago.

Shouldn’t his chair be near whatever chair the Alpha used? Michael did a quick scan of the room, but couldn’t identify for certain which chair that might be. It almost looked like the well worn, overstuffed armchair next to Duncan was the center of the room. But Aiden had basically curled up in it. Perhaps there was some informality here that Michael wasn’t used to? He looked over at Duncan, and found that the Beta was staring at him. Michael had the uneasy feeling that he was being weighed and judged.

“Lana said you are Jack Tolliver’s oldest.” The voice was carefully neutral, revealing nothing. Michael felt like he was talking to his first girlfriend’s father all over again. He nodded.

“Gonna stay the night.” It wasn’t a question. Michael felt himself nod again. His Alpha side was calm and waiting, not roaring out to rip at this man who questioned him. Michael didn’t have the temper that ran in his family. His anger, his fierceness, his Alpha side, they all emerged slower. Although. He had to fight to keep a predatory grin from stretching his lips tonight. His treaty negotiations, as calmly as he has described them, had ended up being bloody. He’d given the Mexico Alpha a beating, and the man had dragged himself home licking his wounds.

Michael had his own kind of temper.

But Duncan’s questioning, if it could be called that, didn’t much bother Michael. 

He was getting protectiveness, but no aggressiveness. If anything, the Beta had kind eyes. Oh, definitely being judged, but Michael thought maybe he was… passing? And besides, everyone judged Michael all the time anyway.

They sat in silence for a moment before Michael asked, “Where is Alpha Clairborne? Luna Clairborne said that he wouldn’t be home until evening?”

“Training with the pups. Long run.”

Ah, that made sense. Michael pictured a big, buff, blonde werewolf surrounded by hordes of pups sweeping in here to see Aiden, and suddenly he was gritting his teeth in frustration. The Beta- Duncan- still gazed impassively at him. He took a sip of his whiskey and let the drink burn its way down his throat. “Good, I like to hear when Alpha’s train with their pups.” He swallowed. “How many do he and the Luna have?” He looked down and realized his hand was white knuckled on his glass. He relaxed it, and looked back up at Duncan. The thought of anyone touching her was infuriating. It couldn’t be allowed.

But- she already had a mate. His inner wolf was hurt and confused, but Michael wasn’t about to show that. Not at a completely unknown pack. What was going on here?

Duncan finally answered. “None.” Interestingly, his brief answers felt natural, not curt.

Wait, none? He glanced over his shoulder at the door Aiden had exited from, and raised an eyebrow. She had been at least 25. Either she and the Alpha had just found each other, or there was something wrong here. Werewolf culture placed a strong emphasis on family, and women were often pregnant within months of meeting their mate.

The thought of Aiden, tall and strong, holding her belly and leaning into him made him want to howl in satisfaction. She was his mate. Damn it all, he was going to figure out what was going on here, because she was His mate.

He whipped back around to bark a question at Duncan, then paused, and shut his mouth. Duncan was staring and him, waiting. More slowly, Michael said, “What is Alpha Clairborne’s name…. Duncan? I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself.” He leaned forward and held out his hand. The Beta with the kind eyes shook it firmly, then leaned back.

“Noah. And you’re Michael Tolliver, I heard.”

Noah Clairborne. Michael didn’t know the name. But then, he hadn’t even known this village existed. Speaking of- “I need to place a call, but I don’t have cell phone service.”

Duncan stood and motioned Michael to the other end of the room, where there was an old fashioned corded phone next to a busy desk. Michael grabbed the handset and began to dial a number he knew by heart. Duncan withdrew back to the fire, but didn’t leave. That was fine, Michael wasn’t about to hide anything.

“Hello?”

Michael rolled his eyes. His Beta sounded growly and winded. But then- he’d just met his mate while they were down in New Mexico, so…. He was probably busy.

Michael wanted to be busy. With a tall, fierce red-head. Damn it all.

“Lowe. I’m staying the night out here.”

“Oh, really? There is actually a “here” out there?”

“Yes. I’ll update you in the morning with my plans. Have Red hold position.”

“You got it, boss.” There was a click on the line. Yup, definitely with his new mate.

Michael hung up and turned around. Duncan stood facing into the fire, one hand in his pocket, one hand holding his mostly empty whiskey. Michael walked over. “How long have Alpha and Luna Clairborne been in command here?”

Duncan’s eyes shifted to him, then into the fire. “Old Alpha and Luna Clairborne died in an accident about 5 years back.”

So Aiden’s mate was the son of the previous Alpha. That was pretty normal, if the son was of age, he often took over in the event of a retirement, death or inability to perform an Alpha’s duties. And just like that, Michael was seething again. How could she have a mate? The fates weren’t that cruel.

“What pack did Luna Clairborne come to you from?” Michael asked, trying to seem nonchalant. He didn’t think he did a very good job, and judging from the look on Duncan’s face, he was right.

“She’s always been MoonValley.”

Interesting. Most packs sent their young women to Mate Dances, so that they would be exposed to possible mates from a number of packs. To then find your mate in your own pack was odd, but not unheard of.

Michael took another sip of his whiskey. He wanted to focus on learning everything he could from this taciturn Beta- about the pack, about the Alpha, about….. the Luna. But it was bad manners to grill someone about his superior’s mate, so Michael held his tongue.

They sat in silence for several minutes. As time stretched on, Michael was sure that Duncan was waiting for him to ask…. Something. Michael just didn’t know what.

The double doors they had entered through, which Aiden had so definitely closed on her way out, were thrown open and a bubbly teenage voice announced, “Dinner ready, come and get it!” In the doorway stood a young girl, maybe 15 or 16, with pretty blue eyes, golden hair, and a pouty mouth. She was going to be a stunner at the Mate Dances soon. Michael heard a sigh, and turned to Duncan, who said, “This is my youngest. Rosalie.”

Rosalie sailed back into the dining room with a, “Love you, Pop-pop!” over her shoulder. Michael grinned. She seemed like a handful.

People were already starting to sit down at the long table. A quick headcount showed that Michael would make the 14th person at the table. Aiden stood at the head of the table, and his gaze zeroed in on her as her scent washed over him. Before it had been strong, compelling, but now. His mouth watered. He wanted to take her, damn it. He wanted to feel her against him, to taste her, to- Michael realized he was slowly stalking towards her, and her eyes had gone wide. Not frightened, but so wide. He stopped. She extended an arm, gesturing down to the other end of the table. To the furthest seat from her. He wanted to growl.

He looked at her left, at Lana, the pack house keeper, and her right, where Duncan was taking his place. The rest of the table was slowly being filled by men and women both. He was glad that this Alpha- Noah- welcomed both men and women to sit at the table together. Some packs still clung to very old ways and encouraged women not to mingle with the men, or take part in business dealings. Seeing Aiden seat herself gracefully at the head of a table full of tough men and competent looking women, he couldn’t help but appreciate how lithe, how lovely she looked, while still being clearly in command. The missing Alpha’s presence was barely even noticeable.

Actually- why wasn’t there a seat left at the table for the Alpha, for Noah? At his father’s table, no one, not even his mother, had sat in the Alpha’s seat. Even when he wasn’t there, the large, heavy wooden chair that figured in so many of Michael’s memories, sat open.

Teenagers who had been huddled, giggling, around the stove suddenly began streaming out and putting food on the table. It was quickly piled high with incredible smelling dishes, and Michael realized he was starving. He looked down the table and Aiden met his gaze, and held it, a look of determination written deep across her features. She stood.

“Thank you, everyone, for joining me tonight. Our guest this evening is Alpha Tolliver, the Southwest Alpha. Please give him all the respect you would give Noah, or I. Let’s eat.”

She sat. There was a brief, uneasy moment, which had the adults sitting quietly, but then Michael heard,

“Wow, he can be my Alpha.”

Michael kept his face turned to Aiden, but slid his eyes to the kitchen, where the pack of teenage wolves were suddenly very busy plating food and disappearing out into the hallway. He would swear that had been Rosalie’s quietly appreciative voice. He caught Aiden's eye once more and he grinned. Relief washed over her feature and she almost, almost smiled back.

He was going to get her to smile for him.

Conversation slowly began around the table. Someone asked about a new pup, someone else mentioned a young man finding his mate. Farther down the table, a discussion began regarding the roof that he had seen being put on, on his way in. That had only been an hour ago. It felt so much longer. Conversation picked up until most of the table was involved in discussing the various construction projects that the pack needed to accomplish before winter. He noticed that Aiden didn’t speak terribly often, but that when she did the wolves around the table paused to listen.

She must be a very well respected Luna.

His stomach clenched, and he knew that his aloof and impervious facade was sliding back into place. For the hundredth time, he wondered. How was this possible? He knew, he knew that he wanted this woman. But it wasn’t a sexual want, or an intent to possess. He wanted her by his side, he wanted her to bear his pups and rule with him.

Dinner flew by, and from all the way down the table, he felt Aiden’s anxiety rising. He wasn’t sure why, but he could feel it, could see it on her face. She had an excellent poker face, but he felt like he could see right through it. Was that the mate bond?

Once dinner had mostly slowed down, a pair of teenagers flitted in, dropped a fancy plate of cakes on each end of the table, and disappeared again. Aiden stood. “Anyone who would like to stay, please feel free. Coffee and tea are in the kitchen in their usual spots, and we will be having drinks in the living room.”

Some of the wolves at the table stood, excused themselves and left, but most stayed. Michael leaned over to the woman on his left. She was short and slender, with a blonde pixie cut. She would have looked delicate, if not for the muscle packed onto her small frame. “Excuse me, where would I find the restroom?”

She gave him a cooly assessing look before replying, “Out the door, past the staircase and a hallway, first door on your left.”

Michael stood and nodded his thanks. The room faltered into silence, with the attendees looking from him to Aiden and back. He said, “I will join you in the living room momentarily. Call of nature.”

Conversation slowly picked back up and people began to move around. He slipped out the doors and closed them behind him. Across from the double doors where they had entered was a wide staircase leading up, and immediately to the right of that was a long hallway. Seeing the door he was looking for, Michael headed for it, only to slow to a stop.

Halfway up the staircase was a young boy, maybe 10 years old, sitting and reading a large book. He had a mop of copper colored curls and giant hazel eyes. He was the spitting image of Aiden.

Was this her pup? She didn’t look old enough to have a pup this big. But they were definitely related, he just wasn’t sure how. The thought of Aiden having a pup with someone else was viscerally painful.

Michael realized that his feet had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and he was staring at the young boy. Who was now staring back at him, curiously.

“Who are you?”

The question was blunt and serious, with just the barest hint of a command. Michael didn’t laugh or let his humour show on his face. The small pup obviously took himself very seriously. That was fine, he’d either grow into a position of command, or learn that there are people you shouldn’t question.

“Michael.” Michael considered the boy for a moment. “What are you reading?”

The boy held up a large brown tome of ancient history. “I’m learning. And it’s pretty cool to read about gladiators.”

“That’s a pretty heavy book for a kid. I’m impressed.”

The boy sniffed. “I’m pretty smart for a kid, so you should be.”

Michael grinned. Yup, this kid was going to get in some fights, but Michael had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to win more than he lost. “What’s your name, pup? Who are your parents?”

The boy carefully closed the book and stood. It placed his head about level with Michael’s, and the way he swelled his chest and pulled his shoulders back was adorable. The pup was trying so hard to look big and in charge.

“My parents were Scott and Evelyn Clairborne.” Wait- his parents were Clairborne? But he was the spitting image of Aiden? Still, the knowledge that this was Not Aiden’s pup was like a balm to Michael’s soul. He hadn’t realized how much that thought had hurt.

The boy leveled his gaze at Michael, and said, sternly, haughtily, “My name is Noah Clairborne.”


	5. Aiden

**Aiden**

Aiden shot to her feet when the doors from the dining room into the living room slammed open. The wolves of her pack parted and Michael Tolliver dragged her brother in by the scruff of his neck.

She watched in horror as he rounded the sofa and thrust Noah deep into an armchair. He pointed a long, slender finger at the boy and said, “Stay. Put.”

Then he rounded on her. He stalked the few yards that remained between them slowly. It seemed to take forever for him to reach her. Aiden was acutely aware of her chair pressing against her from behind. There was nowhere she could go.

The Alpha- whew, was he ever an Alpha, the wolf with green eyes had her pinned like prey.

She hated it.

She loved it.

She could feel him focused completely on her, the world narrowing to just the two of them. She could hear his quiet breathing, the soft swish of fabric against itself. He was inches from her, and she had to look up to maintain eye contact. It was bold, presumptuous even, to look him in the eye when everything was about to fall apart. But damn it, if she was going to die tonight….

She didn’t want to die.

She wanted to touch him.

Goddess, how she wanted to touch him. Run her nails through his short black hair, nuzzle into his neck, and drink in his scent. She realized, abruptly, that she wanted to do a lot more than just touch him. Her whole body flushed, and she could feel her blush cover her cheeks and ears. She hated it. She had never been able to hide her blushes.

She wanted him to touch her. Instead Michael growled out, “What. Is going. On. Here?”

There was a tenseness, a heaviness, deep in her abdomen, and a feeling of static electricity running up her spine. His Alphaness was a weight, pushing her to submit, to answer, to give in. And goddess, how she wanted to.

She tried to speak. She managed barely more than a whisper. “You’ll have to explain further, Alpha.”

He began a rumble deep in his chest. She wanted filthy things. She wanted him to take her on the rug in front of the roaring fireplace. She wanted to feel him inside her, to leave claw marks on his back. She swallowed, and he spoke.

“Where is your Alpha.” It wasn’t a question.

“I told you. His name is Noah Clairborne.” Her heart broke as she said it. What would happen to her brother now?

Alpha Michael Tolliver took a half of a step back. Just enough for Aiden to realize that there was still oxygen in the room. Michael’s hands went to his hips and he stared at her, then at Noah. “So, the Alpha for this whole pack is a mouthy 10 year old?” His voice dripped sarcasm.

They were all going to die. Aiden breathed in slowly, but it only served to bring his scent further into her. “Yes, Alpha Tolliver. That is correct.”

His head slowly turned back to look at her. “And you’re the Luna to a 10 year old kid.”

And here it came- “No. Alpha. I am not.”

This time the rumble was closer to a growl. She felt like she was being vibrated apart. “So you….. Lied to me.”

In some shifter kingdoms, lying to an Alpha was an offense punishable by death. North American was supposed to be better than that but…. She had the scars to prove it wasn’t. “Alpha, I do what I do to protect my pack and my brother.” Shit, she hadn’t meant to admit she was his sister.

Michael closed the half step he had opened up. He leaned forward. When he spoke it was quiet, low, intense. She could feel the wind on her skin.

“Who. Is. Your. Mate.”

Aiden stared sightlessly at his maroon shirt. What….. What did he want her mate for? Why would he ask that? Her voice, for the first time, trembled. “I have no mate, Alpha. I lead this pack alone.”

Michael slowly stepped back. He stopped and slowly spun around, reading the room. Aiden looked with him. The room was full. When had it gotten so packed?

It was full of Her pack. The ones she guarded and led. And from the looks of it, everyone in the whole pack house and several adjoining buildings were in here.

And they looked angry. They looked sad, scared, determined. They looked protective. Of her, she realized slowly. This was a room full of wolves preparing to fight the biggest baddest wolf in the whole Southwest.

This was madness.

“Everyone stop!” Aiden used her biggest, most Alpha voice. Her people froze, but Michael turned his back on all of them, and eyed her. “Did you just give me an order?”

Aiden felt almost giddy. As a dead wolf walking, nothing mattered anymore. “I suppose I did.”

He closed the distance in an instant, his hands clamped on her upper arms, his voice in her ear. “Tell them all to get out. You don’t want them to see what’s going to happen next.”

Her stomach twisted. In dread or in eagerness? She couldn’t tell which. She raised her voice, making it calm and authoritative. “Everyone. Clear the room. Noah, Duncan, and Remi, please remain in the house.”

There was some shifting and jostling before Duncan pushed through the crowd and pulled Noah to his feet. They led the crowd out the door. In under 3 minutes, they were alone in the room. In that whole time, Michael had not removed his grip on her arms, nor moved away. She was dizzy with his nearness, and her hands were curled tightly into fists, to stop her from touching him. Every time she breathed in, a fresh wave of longing and terror surged through her. When the door finally banged shut there was a moment of silence, broken only by the pop and crackle of the fire.

Michael shifted, and somehow his grip felt gentler, though it no less held her in place. She would have sworn that he sniffed her hair. The thought made her eyes drift shut. His voice made them spring open. It was…. raw, as if he was barely hanging on, and demanding. It was somehow also plaintive as he asked, “No mate?” This time, it was a question.

“No,” she breathed out, barely able to hear herself over her racing heart.

“No husband? No pups?”

Confused but feeling safer, for some reason, her voice softened, growing husky. “No. None.”

His hands began to slide up and down her arm. This time she was sure he sniffed her hair. He burrowed his face in her neck and pulled her into him. Her breasts rubbed against his shirts and she felt her nipples harden.

“Mine.”

She stuttered. “Eh-wha-what?!”

He growled. Not in anger, in pure possessiveness. “You. Are Mine. Mate. Mine.” He slid his arms up, up, over her shoulders and behind her neck. He gently held her head in place as he drew back to look at her. There was wonderment in his eyes and he was, for the first time, smiling easily, beautifully. “Mate of mine, I am pleased to have found you.”

Aiden stared back in horror. And lust. And love? She brought her hands up, but she couldn’t pull his hands off of her. His eyes narrowed. His voice was still gentle, but he asked, “Why would you fight me, Mate? Don’t you want to touch me?” He leaned and whispered in her ears. “Don’t you want to touch me as badly as I want to touch you?”

Aiden couldn’t stifle her groan. It was one part lust, one part frustration, and one part fear.

“Why are you fighting this, my little wolf? Why don’t you embrace this? Rejoice?”

His voice was dark and seductive and Aiden was sorely tempted to give in, to drown in his voice and scent. She whimpered.

And suddenly she was being kissed. Her lips parted without her approval and a strange tongue was touching hers. Just as swiftly as it had happened, it was gone. Then she felt teeth on her neck.

“Wait. Stop. Please?” Her voice was still low, but urgent. This couldn’t be happening. She didn’t have a mate, and she didn’t want to get her throat ripped out for making him stop. She hated the begging note that crept into her voice. She forced it away and steeled herself. “I don’t understand what’s happening, but you need to stop.”

There was a feeling of falling, and movement, and she found herself sitting in his lap on her armchair, with her head on his shoulder, and her wrists held gently in her lap. One of his hands released her wrists and tilted her chin up. He stared deep into her eyes, and wonderingly said, “My little wolf. Will you always be giving me orders?”

Aiden screwed her eyes shut. She felt held, protected, cherished. It was unfamiliar, and yet like putting on a worn coat. Her head was spinning. The fingers on her chin disappeared, and something gently tapped her nose. Her eyes sprang open.

Wonder of wonders, Michael was smiling down at her. Aiden let out a shaky breath. “Um. Hi?” She cringed inside. How weak she sounded. But he just kept smiling, bathing her in gentle warmth.

“Hi. Are you with me now?” There was no judgement in his voice, just a world of caring.

“Yes? Yes.” Aiden tried to look away, but he gently tapped her on the nose again.

“Stay here with me.” He released her wrists, but brought her hands to his mouth. He placed gentle kisses on her palms, and nuzzled into them like a contented puppy.

Tears pricked behind Aiden’s eyes. Never, in a million years, would she have guessed that being found out by an Alpha would end with her sitting on his lap, snuggling! She pulled one hand, slightly trembling, away from his affections, so that she could gently run her fingers through his hair. It was soft and springy, and she wanted to bury her face in it. Michael picked his head up out of her hand and grinned. It was an earth shaking, soul wrenching grin. It promised a great many things. It promised love, devotion, protection, and….. Aiden blushed again, and his grin only grew wider.

“Oh, my mate, look at me like that every day. Never stop.”

“E-every day?” Reality crashed over Aiden, pulling her out of this soft, comfortable cocoon. She stilled, then tried to stand up.

She didn’t get far. Michael’s arms were like a vise around her. He pulled her hard against his lap, and as she squirmed she realized that she was sitting on something very firm. She froze and her eyes went wide, staring at Michael. His face was cross, and confused.

Then he saw her gape at him, and burst into chuckles. “What is going on here? Who are you, really? Why is this pack so mysterious?”

Aiden took a long deep breath, and said, with a blush still coloring her cheekbones, “Put me down.” Michael’s jaw firmed. “Please?” He relaxed into an easy smile again, and stood, cradling her against his chest.

“How about this- we both sit here.” Michael lowered them onto the rug in front of the fireplace. Aiden felt like her…. everything was on fire. Hadn’t she just been thinking about him laying her down in front of the fire, moving between her legs, sliding his hands under her shirt. She scrambled to stop that train of thought, viscerally aware of how close he was. He quietly arranged himself with his back against the couch, and pulled her into him, so that she sat between his legs. They faced into the fire together, just breathing.

His voice rumbled behind her back, and in her ear. “So tell me, Mate. Who are you?”

Aiden swallowed miserably. Mate. She wasn’t supposed to find her mate. She was supposed to be alone. Never, in her wildest dreams, had she imagined spilling the whole story sitting in the lap of someone calling her “mate”.

She didn’t know where to start.

“Alpha-”

“Michael.” His head lowered, till he was whispering in her ear. “I want to hear you say my name.”

Aiden’s stomach was on a roller coaster. “Michael. I am the oldest child of Scott and Evelyn Clairborne.” She closed her eyes in distress. “The last Real Alpha and Luna of this pack.” The pain was fresh and raw, even 5 years later. “My name is Aiden. My brother Noah….” she opened her eyes and shook her head exasperatedly. “We were born in the wrong order. My dad always talked about what a good Alpha I would have made, if I was a boy. When Mom got pregnant again, and it was a boy…. He was so happy.” That was an old wound. No matter how good she did, no matter hard she pushed herself or how much she excelled, she could never be an Alpha. Noah, on the other hand. “He had so many plans. Noah was going to be an excellent Alpha. I.” She twisted into the words, hating what she was about to say. “I was going to make someone an excellent political wife.”

Michael hummed in her ear. “And yet here you are, snug in my lap, still in your little hideaway. What happened?”

Aiden sighed miserably, and sniffed back tears. “A car accident. A dark night, rain, a tree…..” She shook her head. Werewolves healed fast, but there had been no coming back from that accident.

Michael stilled behind her. Gruffly, he asked, “How old were you?”

“Twenty-one.”

He sighed. “So young.” She wrinkled her nose and scooched around to look at him. “Old enough!” she said, challengingly. He was only 7 or 8 years older than her, if that! But he stared at her, not looking away. She fought not to shrink under his gaze. 

“Sit back down.” It wasn’t a request, it was a command. She complied. Damn it. “What happened after the accident?”

Aiden thought back, to those never-endingly grim days. She remembered Duncan, telling her the news, crying. She remembered Lana trying to hold her. Baby Noah, walking around confused, being passed from hug to hug. Then finally, her, breaking free of the pack house and disappearing into the woods, to run, and to howl out her pain. Finally, she began to speak again.

“Dad was so well respected. Everyone knew he wanted Noah to be the next Alpha, eventually. But- Noah was five. Duncan could have taken over as Alpha, but if he had, there would have been younger fighters trying to claw their way through him. Rosalie is only a few years older than Noah. I couldn’t let him get hurt.”

She took a final deep breath and finished in a rush. “There was more, but there was no good answer and fucking Maynard was on the rise in the BlackMountain pack, and looking to make trouble. I had been Dad’s shadow my entire life, I had been groomed for a political marriage, and…..” She grinned at herself, quietly, but fiercely. “I’m no slouch on the field either. So I did it. I named myself a Luna, and declared that I would hold the pack till the day Noah came of age. I had to fight some.” She swallowed remembering blood and viscera, snarling and rage. She could feel Michael’s shock. “That was five years ago. I don’t regret a damn thing!” She finished defiantly, then allowed quiet to roll over them.


	6. Michael

**Michael**

Michael felt the fire warm his feet, and the woman in his arms warm the rest of him.

Finally.

He finally had her. She was real, she was in his arms.

At 33, Michael was not a particularly young Alpha. However, he was unusually old to not be mated. Starting sometime between 16 and 18, wolf pups were encouraged to attend events where there would be others for them to meet. As the son of an Alpha, from a line of Alphas, whose pack controlled important territory, his presence at these events had been expected. At first he had been so excited to attend. His mother and father were deeply, deeply in love, and he had looked forward to meeting his own mate. But, after a few years, he had met most of the eligible young women. When none of them expressed the intense connection that a mating bond was supposed to be, he’d slowly lost interest in going. Still, he had never stopped hoping for his own love story.

Now here he was, in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, with damn near 6 feet of red headed goddess draped over him, and listening to a story straight out of his teenage adventure novels.

He tightened his grip, pulled her tighter into his core. What to do with his unconventional little wolf? Because unconventional was exactly what that story was. Many packs in the werewolf world were conservative regarding gender and sexual matters. He wasn’t. He didn’t think he was. But a young girl, declaring herself Luna, and her brother Alpha? And being followed?

He didn’t know where to begin asking questions. But he did know what to say. Leaning forward till his lips pressed against the back of her ear, he said. “Very well, Luna Clairborne. Clearly there is a developed situation here. But. Perhaps. The cavalry has arrived. So go on. Lay out the battlefield for me. Tell me what happens next.”

He made himself lean back nonchalantly, and slightly, very slightly loosened his hold. He forced himself to keep breathing, and give her a moment. He waited.

First, she pulled almost all the way out of his hold, craning around to look at him. Emotions flickered over her face. Shock, disbelief, despair, anger, fear, and maybe, if he had some, there was some hope there. He tried to hold a neutral face, one not as purposefully discouraging as his normal poker face. She studied him closely. And didn’t pull away.

Slowly he tightened his hold again, ever so slowly. Hope kept crossing her face. Oh, it wasn’t the only emotion, but it was there. He kept tension in his arms until, at last and all at once, she sagged against him, her head tucked under his chin. He grinned. He didn’t know exactly what his new mate had gotten him into, but he knew he would follow her to hell and back.

“I have a question.” Her voice was defensive and quiet. He nodded against the top of her head. Her whole body tensed. “Why aren’t you rejecting me?”

The question hung in the air, solid, ponderous, leaded.

“Why- why would I?” Michael finally forced out. His incredulity was obvious, he knew, but then….. Why hide it? What was she talking about? Aiden pulled into herself, and all her focus turned inwards. Her words came out in a rush.

“It’s pretty obvious, I mean, I’m a freakishly giant woman who took control of her dead father’s pack. I have never understood my place, or where I belonged, and I’ve never been able to fit myself into anyone else’s expectations. I’m loud, and pushy, and demanding. I’m not dainty or feminine or…..” Her words seemed to fail her, and her voice was barely above a whisper. “Certainly not any one’s first choice for a mate.”

Michael held himself still. His arms were steel around his mate. He would kill whoever had put those thoughts into her beautiful head. Find them. Rip them limb from limb. He had a thought, and broke out into a grim predatory smile. No. He would find them. Maybe wound them. Then his mate- his tall, strong, beautiful mate, she could shred them herself. 

Enough of this. It would take time for her to heal, but it would start tonight.

Michael held her close for one second longer, gave her an extra squeeze.

Then he whirled them around, tucking her underneath him, till he was over her, and they were eye to eye. She raised her hands to his chest, and he pushed them away.

“Listen to me.” His Alpha voice was fully present. “If you wish to reject this mate bond, you may do so. But you will damn well look me in the eyes and tell me that you, yes, you, want out. Never, ever speak of me rejecting you again.”

He reared back and let his voice carry, hoping that there were as many people listening at the door as he thought there were.

“I, Michael Tolliver, affirm my mate bond with you, Aiden Clairborne. And I don’t care who knows it!”

He knelt back over her, and whispered in her ear. “And as soon as my lady would like, I’m happy to make that…. Final.” He let his voice drag over the last word, and heard her gasp and push her chest into his. She knew, they both knew, that he referred to the mating bite. Michael pulled back enough to see Aiden bite her lip, her eyes dark. She didn’t look nearly as hesitant now, he noted, proudly. She looked flushed, sexy…. And eager. Ah, now that was a beautiful look on his mate.

Then the doors banged open.

Michael stood, or rather, tried to stand. He was halfway to his feet when a small, half-shifted body came flying over the couch and bowled him over. Michael fell backwards, and felt the back of his skull come into contact with the fireplace stones.

Stars erupted, and he sat down, hard. Someone, Aiden maybe? Screamed, there were yelling voices, someone was making a noise like a small dirty engine? It all reached a cacophony, and needed to stop!

“Enough!” His sight was slowly returning. There was a tall titian goddess standing, wide legged, in front of him. She had placed herself between him and a small, but well muscled werewolf pup. And the crowd of unhappy looking people still on the other side of the couch. But no one moved. No one contradicted his mate.

Most people eventually fell in love with their mate. Cementing the mate bond did it for nearly every couple.

Michael didn’t need it. He was enchanted.

He dragged himself to his feet, holding onto the mantle to steady himself. He ignored the crowd at the door in order to focus on the auburn wolf pup. Ah yes, there was that dirty engine noise. The boy was trying to growl at him. Michael hid a smile. Noah’s pelt was exactly the same color as his and his sister’s hair. Sternly, he used just a touch of his command presence. “That’s enough. Either shift back so we can talk about this like men, or leave and I’ll see you on the training field in the morning.”

The engine noise stopped. The pup stared at him, teeth bared, but silent. He kept sneaking glances at his sister, though. She stood there, impassive, arms crossed, not moving out of the way. Finally the pup whined, stepped forward enough headbut his sister in the leg, then whirled and leapt back over the couch and was gone.

Michael looked to the crowd at the back of the room, and put an arm possessively around Aiden. With a smile that was kind, but brooked zero nonsense, he asked, “Does anyone have any comments they need to make this evening? The Luna and I will also hold a meeting tomorrow morning.” His tone made it clear that he wasn’t actually expecting any questions tonight. How could he help it though? He wanted- no, he Needed to get back to exploring this woman next to him, this woman of steel covered in, he was very aware, a very soft and delectable skin.

After he spoke, he nuzzled into Aiden’s hair, and watched her people sort themselves out through his peripheral vision. People left, some quickly, some slowly, but soon only Duncan, the beta- Aiden’s Beta? It was strange to think of a Luna having a Beta. Only Duncan was left. He also stood wide legged, arms crossed, an impenetrable expression on his face. He was focused solely on Aiden, ignoring Michael.

“Duncan, it’s ok, go please. Tell Rosalie she is still expected for training in the morning. Everyone, in fact, who can be spared, is expected for training in the morning.”

The older man gave a sharp nod, spun on his heel and quietly slipped through the doors.


	7. Aiden

**Aiden**

Aiden sagged in Michael’s hold, blowing her breathe out forcefully. She had thought, for one brief, horrifying second, that her baby brother was going to eviscerate a high-ranking, unarmed Alpha. Her Alpha? That…. Was what he had said. Loudly. That he was hers. That she was his.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Aiden wondered if it might not feel nice to be someone’s….. Something. Anything but their Alpha or their target.

Michael quietly nuzzled into her hair again. He seemed to be giving her time to breathe, and she was intensely grateful.

She had just started to gather her thoughts when his hands started moving. The second hand joined the first on her stomach, then they slid down towards her hips. Resting on her hip bones, then digging in, pulling her into Michael even more firmly. She let out a gasp. He chuckled. It was a dark and liquid sound, and it held sinful promise. Aiden felt herself flush, and tried not to squirm. She wasn’t very successful.

“Where am I staying tonight, Mate?” Michael asked, leaning heavily on the last word, making her shiver.

Her voice, when she found it was quiet, but firm. “Upstairs. I’d be happy to show you the way.”

He loosened his hold, and as she moved away, she felt lost, alone. Being near him had been unexpected comfort. She turned and looked at him. His grey slack and maroon shirt were hopelessly wrinkled. “Do you have any luggage you’d like to get?”

Michael laughed. “No, dear one, I didn’t even know if I’d find a pack up here, much less such an….. interesting one.” He purred the last two words, and Aiden was sure that he was calling her, not her pack, “interesting”. She ducked her head, feeling uncharacteristically shy.

He moved into her space again, this time dragging a finger over her collarbone and down towards her breast. Lower, and lower…..

Aiden snapped her eyes open at the sudden loss of sensation, and blushed hard. Michael stared at her with a grin. A wide, beautiful, carefree grin. She loved it.

“Luna Clairborne. Or is it Alpha Clairborne? Weren’t you leading me to a room?” His voice was black silk and coffee. Goddess, how she wanted him.

“Luna Clairborne will do, Alpha Tolliver.” She said it primly, as if the social niceties mattered. She turned, showing him her back, and striding towards the dining room. There were two reasons to show someone your back in werewolf culture. One was to shun a wolf.

One was to show perfect trust.

Aiden burst through the double doors into the kitchen, scaring Lana and Rosalie. She leveled a stern finger at them. “Not a word. Lana, we will be training hard tomorrow. Hearty meals, please. Rosalie, get your ass in bed at a reasonable time.”

She felt Michael stop just a hair closer than necessary, and felt more than heard his chuckle. She shivered, and he did it again. Would she never stop blushing?

She quickly moved around the table and out into the foyer. It was blessedly empty. Aiden stopped, and looked around, biting her lip. Which room to give him? Then she felt hands on her hips, fingers digging in just enough.

“Show me. Your. Bed.” It was a command. It was a hell of a command. Aiden felt it from the curling tips of her toes, through her knees and her center, up, crinkling her nipples, and making her shiver. “Yes. Ok.”

She started to pull towards the stairs, when she was pulled sharply back against a hard body. There was a growl behind her, and “Sir. When I give you an order, you say Yes, Sir. At all other times….” There were lips just brushing her ear. Oh goddess deliver her. “You will call me Michael. And I’m going to make you scream my name.”

Aiden’s stomach did that slow roll again. But this time, she felt heat fill her. That voice. She drew in a shaky breath, and tried to make her voice strong. It came out low, but steady.

“Yes.” There was a long pause, before finally, “Sir.”

Werewolf brains were hard wired to accept, to glory in, the mating bond. Heat and pleasure rushed through Aiden, and she fought the urge to throw her head back and bare her neck.

Michael chuckled in her ear, a very satisfied sound. “What a good mate I have. Lucky me.”

Oh goddess, she was going to melt right here in the foyer. “Upstairs?” She breathed the word out, and knew without looking that Michael was grinning, teeth bared in anticipation. He slowly gentled his hold on her hips, then let go. She was still pressed against him, but now nothing held her there.

Nothing except desire.

She could feel his erection, hard and hot against her ass. Slowly, experimentally, she rolled her hips, pushing backwards into him.

He groaned, a sound full of need and want. She smiled and blushed, proud of herself. She had made her….. her mate. She had made her mate make that noise.

Michael put his hands gently on her hips and pushed her a few inches away. “Little wolf, if you do that again, I might take you right here, where everyone could see you, could hear you scream my name.”

Aiden blushed even more fiercely, and stepped towards the stairs. She paused as a hand caught hers, and fingers tangled. He was…. he was holding her hand. She flashed back to this afternoon, when that had been all she wanted. Now, glory be, she had it.

She pulled them towards the stairs, up to the second floor and turned to the right, hurrying down the long hallway.

“In a hurry, little wolf?” His voice was heavy with suggestive promise.

Reaching a large, heavy door, Aiden paused. “No- yes- I mean-,” she stopped and took a deep breath. “This is my room.”

She pushed the door open and guided them through.

The door opened into a large bedroom with a king sized bed in the middle. Windows lined one wall, looking out into the forest. There was an open door on the other wall, showing an en-suite bathroom. The room was messy, clothes half out of the closet, and spilling out of the laundry basket, a desk covered in a million papers and a laptop, and there was a small table with a large mirror, covered in jewelry and makeup. Aiden was embarrassed, suddenly wishing she had ever been good at keeping her personal space as tidy and orderly as she ran her pack. She wondered what he thought.

“Mmmmm, Aiden.”

The desire in his voice was like a rock, dropping straight through her and taking her breath away.

His fingers tightened on hers and she turned to face him. Well, she turned her body. Her head hung down, suddenly feeling too shy to look at him.

The hand not holding hers tipped her chin up. She looked sideways, trying to avoid gazing into his intense green eyes.

“Look at me, little wolf.”

With a shuddering breath, she finally looked him in the eye. His gaze was nothing but love and desire. It shook her to her core.

She had been- She was so afraid. She had wanted a mate, once. Then her parents died and she chose to take control of her pack. And gave up on having a mate. Who would want her? She was awkward, gawky, bossy-

Michael growled. “Here. Aiden, here. With me.”

His growl was intoxicating. She suddenly found herself pulled out of her head, out of her painful thoughts, and into this moment.

She finally focused her eyes on his face, and really looked at him. His wide mouth, with full, kissable lips. His cheekbones, high and hard enough to cut glass. His eyes. Oh, his eyes. She wanted to drown in them.

He smiled. A small, predatory smile. “Welcome back, little wolf.” His hand moved to cup the back of her head, holding her in place. “I’m going to kiss you now. But first-” His grin grew wider and she could see the hint of his fangs, pressing, trying to descend. “First, you’re going to tell me you want it.”

What. He what. Aiden felt her eyes go wide. She wanted him, goddess how she wanted him. But saying it? Out loud?

He waited, his predatory grin unwavering and patient.

Damn it. Damn him. He wanted her to say it? Fine. He was her mate as well, as much as she belonged to him.

She glared into his eyes. She was no shrinking violet, no matter who was watching. Her chin rose, defiant and proud.

He looked bewitched. He looked…. in love.

She had this.

Aiden stepped against him, her eyes trained on his. She pressed her body against his, feeling him from the tops of her breasts to her thighs. His erection pushed into her and she rolled her hips into him again. He huffed out a breath and his fangs extended ever so slightly. He looked wild and passionate. She did this. She made him look like this.

She felt powerful. She felt as if the Moon Goddess was touching her soul.

“Kiss me. Kiss me, damn you.”

His lips were on her, rough with desire. Their tongues touched, and tangled. And this time, she gave as good as she got.

He stalked forward, guiding her backwards blindly, until her legs hit the foot of her bed, and she sat down hard. Michael stared down at her. “I want you,” he growled. “I want to take you, I want to have you. I want the mate bond.”

Aiden grinned wickedly and shoved herself further up on the bed. When she spoke, her voice was husky with desire, and gentle teasing. “Well then, you better come and get it.”

With a growl she could feel in her bones, Michael was on her. Her legs were shoved wide, so that he could nestle between them. His hands landed on either side of her head as she was pushed firmly flat. She bit her lip to stifle a moan. 

“No. I want to hear you, little wolf.” Aiden squirmed under Michael. Her breasts pushed up, into his chest, her nipples crinkled and hard. Goddess, she wanted him to touch her. She took a deep inhale and let his scent settle into her, covering her, filling her. She was so turned on, so needy.

And yet. She hadn’t felt this at peace in more than 5 years.

She lifted her head from the bed, till it was level with his ear, and let out a low, throaty moan. “Yes….. sir.” His head dropped, touching her shoulder, and he shuddered as he drew in a deep breath.

“I am going to take your clothes off. Then I am going to feast on you.” He leaned into the word feast. She felt like a delectable piece of meat, and she was shocked by how satisfying that was. Keeping her voice low, and her mouth next to his ear, she said, “Please. Sir. Touch me.” It wasn’t a plea. It was a command.

Micheal reared back and growled, loud, filling the room with the sound. He said, “I hope you don’t like this shirt,” then his claws were out, shredding the front of her button down flannel shirt. Oh well. Her bra hooked in front, and he released his claws to easily pop the fastener open with his fingers. The bra parted and fell to her sides. Her breasts, not very small, but not very large either, stood proudly. Her nipples were tiny diamonds pointing to the ceiling.

His hands stroked from her collarbones downward, finally, finally reaching her breasts. He palmed them gently, warming them with his hands. Then he dug his nails in, just a little, and drew his fingers inward, scraping along her skin, till he carefully, but firmly pinched her nipples.

Aiden moaned loudly. “So responsive.” He smirked, kneeling high above her. He leaned in, looking like he was going to kiss her mouth, then ducked his head at the last second to nibble on her collarbone, slowly moving into the place where her shoulder met her neck. He nuzzled, then scraped his fangs over her skin. Aiden moaned again.

“Tell me, little wolf. You shake and shiver. How long has it been since someone touched you?” His voice was harsh with longing, but gentle with love. Aiden felt herself blush again, damn it. She stared him straight in the eye, daring him to make fun of her. “Never. Actually.”

His fangs ran fully out, she could feel his claws, she could feel his wolf trying to ascend. He growled, looking into her challenging gaze. “Never.” She nodded. He leaned down to her ear again. “My mate. All mine, just mine. Forever.”

Aiden felt a rush of warmth, of love, of relaxation. He sounded pleased, smug even. She was wanted. She was loved. He wasn’t rejecting her.

She tried to arch her back, to touch him, but he sat up. Her hands came up from her sides and slid under his shirt, seeking skin. She found it, warm, soft, covering hard muscles. Nimbly her fingers flew to the buttons. One by one they flicked open, revealing a smooth, broad chest and muscular abdomen. She brushed her fingers through his black chest hair and he growled again, a satisfied sound. She drew her fingers down, letting them rest against his hip bones, her fingertips just barely tucked into his slacks.

“Take them off.” It was as Alpha a command as she had ever heard, but for once, she was pleased to obey. She scratched her way to his navel, then down. She flicked open the button and slowly dragged the zipper down. His erection pushed against her hands, barely contained behind charcoal boxers. She wanted to touch him so badly, but she put her hands back by her sides and returned her attention to Michael’s face.

Challenge and mirth sparkled in her eyes. She needed to know how he would react though. Would he grow angry at the first hint of her insubordination?

He chuckled. That was all. His eyes glittered with humor. “Awwww, is my little wolf shy all of a sudden?” His tone was gently mocking, then smoldering, sexy. “Take my pants down and get my fucking cock out.”

Aiden gleefully hurried to obey. His response was…. nice. She could deal with Alpha Sweet ‘n’ Sexy. She shoved his slacks off his hips, and reached for his boxers, but Michael intercepted her hands and suddenly she was laying flat, her hands trapped over her head. His body lay on top of hers and this time he was rolling his hips firmly into the junction of her thighs. She gasped. She wanted. That’s all she was, nerve endings and want.

Michael invaded her mouth again, and this time she battled him, refusing to lay back and be kissed. She was a goddamn Luna, and if he wanted her submission, he was going to have to earn it, mate or not. She grinned into the kiss, and let her fangs extend slightly. In response, Michael growled into her mouth. She felt it travel through her throat and deep into her center. Her nipples ached, her pussy throbbed.

Michael ripped away from the kiss and glared at her. His eyes still glittered with joy. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “Look, you.” he grumbled, “If you’re difficult, I might just bite you now…..” His voice dripped with promise. “And not wait till I’m buried inside your cunt, fucking you raw.”

Aiden’s eyes flew wide at his words. No one had ever spoken to her like that.

She liked it.

“Oh yeah?” She tilted her head to the side, and shook her hair back. Her long neck stretched out, on display. Michael inhaled deeply, slowly. Then he closed the gap between their chests and nosed her neck, licking, nipping, sucking. Aiden moaned again, a pleased and wanton sound. A voice breathed in her ear. “No, you want to push me, to fight me. So I’m going to touch you, pleasure you, make you cum, until you’re trembling and so sensitive you feel like you might faint. Then. Then you’re going to beg me to fuck you. And when I’m buried deep inside you and you’re cumming on my cock, then you are going to thank me for my cock and beg for my bite.”

Aiden whimpered. Not a sound of fear, or hesitance, but pure need. One of his hands left her wrists and cupped her breast. He kneaded it, sending waves of sensation through her. He shifted his weight above her, then both hands were on her breasts, rolling her nipples, pinching them, pulling them. He had long fingers, and calloused hands. The sensation of the rough calluses against her bare breasts had her head spinning. He looked down at her arrogantly, and said, “Unbutton your jeans.”

She hurried to comply, when an idea occurred to her, and she hid a smile. Carefully she unbuttoned her jeans, but left the long zipper, and the garment, still firmly in place. Then she looked innocently up at Michael and batted her lashes. He looked at her suspiciously, then down at her jeans, and sighed. “Fucking unzip them now, and push them down over your hips. Little wolf,” his voice contained a universe of love and mischief. “Don’t make me spank you.”

Giggling, Aiden reached for her jeans again. Again- he seemed amused by her resistance, not angry. Goddess bless, she wanted to bottle this feeling, of hope and love. Bottle it and keep it forever. She unzipped her jeans, and shimmied them off her slim hips. In a flash, Michael was at the foot of the bed, yanking them off her, and throwing them to the side. He dropped his slacks and shrugged off his shirt. He stood in front of Aiden in just charcoal boxers, his erection proudly tenting them. And he was beautiful.

She shrugged off her ruined shirt and her bra, and likewise tossed them to the side. She got up, so that she was kneeling on the bed, sitting on her heels, facing Michael. An idea occurred to her. She reached down and gently stroked her thighs, then allowed them to widen, slowly. Michael’s eyes narrowed, his gaze laser focused on her center, slowly being revealed to him. She took one finger, brought it to her lips and sucked on it, and he watched that too. She reached down, and very lightly brushed her outer lips. There was a rumble coming from Michael and his fangs were fully extended again. His boxers were, if anything, even more strained now. She slowly, deliberately, placed her finger inside her slit, feeling her juicy pussy lips, then pulled her finger up, flicking her clit.

He pounced. She was knocked over, onto her back, her arms spread wide, and her knees up and open. One very, very turned on werewolf was between her thighs, nuzzling into the pocket of her hip, smelling it, tasting it. Aiden’s heart rejoiced in this connection, and this power. She had never dreamed she would affect someone this way. It was heady. And Goddess knows, he was affecting her in all sorts of ways!

She threw her head back, and she howled. He was suddenly nuzzling her center, his nose pushing against her clit, his tongue eagerly spearing into her. She saw white, and her body clenched. He stopped tonguing her for a moment, then he returned, this time lapping as her with broad strokes. Then he slid a finger inside her.

She came.

He finger fucked her through her climax, and left it inside her when her body finally collapsed back to the mattress. His mouth moved up to her breasts. He spoke around licks, kisses, and bites. “Well well,” a bite, “little wolf,” a kiss, “Was that your first?” He bit her nipple hard. She clenched against his finger as pleasure coursed through her. “Am I the only wolf to bring you pleasure?” The pleased and possessive note in his voice made Aiden feel cherished. She nodded. “No, you beautiful thing. I want to hear you say it.” She looked quizzically up at him.

“Tell me. Tell me that I am the only wolf who has ever touched you. Tell me that I am the only one to make you come on their tongue. Tell me that your pleasure is for me, and for you, alone.” He curled his finger inside her up, and rubbed something that made her want to weep with pleasure. Then he did it again. And again. “Better tell me. Or I might stop.” She could hear the smile in his voice. She forced her eyes open, and as he gently finger fucked her, she gasped out, “No one. Vir-virgin. No one has ever….” She trailed off, and he threatened to remove his finger. “Oh goddess, no man has ever touched me!” Michael released a pleased growl. “And?” He said, fucking her again.

“And none ever will. Sir.” She reached up with a growl of her own, her hands reaching for his neck, trying to pull him down to her. He let himself fall onto her, pinning her underneath him, and fingered her faster, rougher. Pressure built and built till she whipped her head back and forth, coming even harder this time. She whimpered when he removed his finger, then gasped when he sucked her juices off it. It felt filthy, and she loved it.

He was kneeling between her knees, and the silky fabric of his boxers was making her crazy. She bucked her hips up into him, but he pressed down onto her, keeping her from moving against him. His voice purred. “Oh my, does my little wolf want something?” Aiden writhed underneath him. Or tried to. He was a heavy weight, and his hands were on her hips, holding her firmly. She turned her face away, and looked sideways at him. Michael was smiling, damn him. Aiden felt a corresponding smile creep onto her face. His eyes were so tender, even though his cock pressed against her, hard and hot. It was time.

“Sir.” She swallowed. He would be the only wolf she would ever called Sir, she vowed. “Sir. Please fuck me. Please fuck me, please mate with me. I want….” Suddenly nervous, she paused, then gathered her courage. “I want your mark, I want your bond. Please fuck me.”

The awe on Michael’s face was pure bliss to her tired soul. He slowly closed the distance between them, and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. She opened beneath him, welcoming him in. Her hands went to his hips. She wanted his boxers off. Now.

He rolled off her, and she felt cold. He kicked his underwear across the room, then turned on his side, and smiled at her. “Are you sure? I want you,” he cupped his cock and balls. He was so hard, his raised veins gently pulsed, and he wept clear fluid already. “But I won’t force you.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “I want you to want me too.”

And once again, she blushed. This sweetness wasn’t something she had ever imagined. She ducked her eyes as she blushed. There was his dark and liquid chuckle again.

This time, it was her turn to pounce. She moved swiftly, and as his eyes opened wide, she landed atop him, her hands on his shoulders, her legs closing around his and her center landing over his cock. She slid back and forth, loving the sensation of his cock against her lips and clit. She knew she was letting her juices soak his cock. “Damn you, take me, or I’m going to….” She circled her hips, pressing down. “By the Goddess, I’ll take you myself.”

Michael stretched underneath her, and tucked his hands behind his head. “Oh really, little wolf? Ok, why don’t you do that?” She sucked a breath in, and thought. Could she? His hips slowly pushed up into her. God, it was amazing.

She raised herself up and touched herself. Her clit felt enormous, and sensitive. Further in, her juices were almost dripping. She reached down, and touched his cock with her hand for the first time. It was velvet over steel. It was wet from her grinding on it. Michael hummed encouragingly. She held it, and then rubbed it against her. She shuddered and did it again. Rubbing his head along her slit and over her clit, she wanted to whimper. She opened eyes that she didn’t realize she had closed, and saw Michael staring at her. His expression was patient and kind. And hungry. She took a deep breath, placed his head at the end of her channel, and let her weight sink her down onto his cock.

His head slid inside her, stretching her, pressing against her walls. She stopped moving down, so she raised herself up, and let herself sink again. Making it farther down his cock made her feel enormously full, but as she investigated with her fingers, she found he still had 3 inches outside of her. His face was a picture of ecstasy, and his hands were white knuckled. She reached out and touched his forearms, feeling him slide in and out of her as she moved. She pulled on his fingers, wanting him to touch her.

“Little wolf. If I touch you, I’m going to fuck the hell out of you.”

Aiden grinned, and let him slide further back into her, then pushed herself back up, feeling him just barely inside her. Then, she relaxed her legs again, and slid down, down, down, till he was fully seated inside her. Her eyes rolled back and she started to shake. Michael held still for a moment, then pushed up into her, making her gasp. He dropped his hips, then thrust them back up. Over and over, he did it, letting her ride him. Finally she grabbed him, and every muscle in her body tensed. Her muscles spasmed around him, clutching and drawing him into her.

She collapsed onto his chest. He rolled them over without pulling out of her. He was still hard inside her, and he began to move gently and slowly. Finally she sighed and opened her eyes. They glittered with love and unshed tears. “My god.” she murmured, feeling awed.

He gathered her in his arms, peppering her face with kisses. “My heart, are you ready?” She made a small, inquiring noise. “Remember? I’m going to fuck you, and you’re going to beg for it. You’re going to beg to cum, beg me to bite you.” He shoved in a bit harder. She wiggled, and clenched around him. He withdrew and thrust in again. “Are you ready, little wolf?” She nodded hesitantly with her head against his shoulder. He huffed a laugh. “No, no, remember. You’re going to beg me for it.”

Then he began to move in her, rapidly and with force. Her hands clutched his back, her claws leaving marks. Oh god. Not again. She couldn’t. He pumped into her and grabbed her hair, tilting her head to the side. “Beg, little wolf. Or I’ll stop.”

Her voice, when it came, was breathy. “Fuck me. Fuck me, please goddess, fuck me. Gods yes, I want this, I want this,” she chanted. Michael felt his orgasm approaching and fucked into her harder. “Beg to cum,” he ground out, “Beg to cum, my heart, my love, my little wolf.”

Aiden wailed wordlessly. But then- he was stopping! He was pulling out! She grabbed his hips, but he was stone. “Please. Sir. I want to cum, please fuck me, I want to cum.” He slammed back down onto her, driving in as deeply as he could. She started to cum, her inner walls clenching and milking his orgasm out of him. “Sir. I want your mark. Please. Bite me, damn you!”

Michael’s fangs reached their full length for the final time, and he plunged them into the muscle where her neck and shoulder met. She felt her climax in her soul, as he spent himself in her. Everything was whirling light. Then everything faded gently to black.


	8. Michael

Aiden

Aiden stirred, feeling content and at peace. There was something warm and weighty partially on top of her, and it was too heavy, but so deliciously cuddleable. She sleepily yanked herself loose, then proceeded to drape herself over the thing in her bed.

There was a muffled chuckle. What a nice sound.

Aiden bolted upright, as if electrified. She looked down, at the two plus yards of dark haired man, naked in her bed. As she made herself take long, slow, deep breaths, her mind absently noticed that the back view was as nice as the front, without all those pesky clothes in the way.

It was her turn to chuckle.

Michael picked his head up and quirked an eyebrow at her. “I know why I was laughing, what do you find funny, miss?”

“Um- nothing?”

Now Michael pushed himself up till he was leaning on his elbows, gazing at her. “Are you always this bad a liar? Or does being your mate give me superpowers?”

Aiden flopped back down on the bed and put her hands behind her head. She needed to do some serious thinking. Unfortunately, the man who was now looking down at her didn’t seem likely to let her do that. As she watched, he reached out and ran a thumb over her cheek bone, along her jawline, across her lips. It was like he wanted to know what every part of her felt like.

She let him continue for a minute, because she sorely didn’t want to do what she had to do next. His calluses hands were gentle and loving. Aiden couldn’t see any way this situation could end well, but she desperately wanted to pretend there was a way.

“You’re thinking hard, little wolf.” Michael’s voice was calm, and gently curious. She sighed.

“I am….. so happy to be your mate.” This was true. She had found her mate! And he was kind, caring, patient, loving, sexy….. Oops, that last one was distracting.

She could feel, through the newly created mate bond, that he genuinely cared for her. She just didn’t know what his opinion of the rest of her circumstances were. While she was thinking, he turned over, and gently tugged at her. “And I am so very happy to have found you, my sweet little wolf. Come here, do your thinking on my shoulder.”

She flipped over, cuddled up to his long length, so complimentary to her own. She, mostly, didn’t feel awkwardly tall and terribly unfeminine next to him. It was nice. With her head pillowed on his shoulder, and his arm snug around her, pulling her into him, she began to speak quietly, hesitantly.

“I…. am afraid. I don’t know what happens next.” He laughed, mostly silently, his chest and stomach giving him away. Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t enjoy being laughed at. “It’s not funny. I’m worried. What happens when you….. when you leave?”

He made a sound that might have been a growl, if he’d put more effort into it. “You move to Denver? Your brother-” This time he chuckled out loud. “Your brother will come with us, of course. I know I called him mouthy, but I think I like him. It takes a lot of bravery- and very few brains- to attack a full grown Alpha.”

Aiden sat up and looked down at him. His words about Noah warmed her heart, and yet. “Michael. I can’t leave. I certainly can’t take Noah anywhere.” Now Michael sat up. He shoved himself backwards till he was leaning against the headboard. He wasn’t used to being told No. As his father’s son, and the presumed Alpha-in-waiting, he’d been leading successively larger groups of wolves for years. Everyone but his Beta and his lieutenants had stopped contradicting him years ago. It bored him.

Aiden was anything but boring. He raised an eyebrow at her. The thought of being away from her made him want to scowl and tear things, but he suspected that a show of force wasn’t going to win him any points with Aiden. “Alright. Say you can’t leave. What- would you have me leave you here? I’m needed in Denver, and serves other places, some somewhat urgently.”

Aiden felt her breath leave her. This was what she’d been waiting for, but being prepared made it no less painful. “Yes.”

He made a possessive noise and reached out, hauling her to him. “No. That is not an option. You are my mate, and I’ll have you with me.” He leaned down and gently nuzzled her frozen check. “You are my mate. I love you. You belong with me.”

Aiden sighed. “I may be your mate, but I have a pack to lead and an Alpha to raise.” He pulled back, and she felt the distance between them acutely. How much more would it hurt when he left? “I am responsible for this pack, and they need me. It hasn’t actually been…. easy? It hasn’t been easy to keep them safe, but I’ve done a damn good job.” Her voice held a note of pride.

Michael scowled. “What do you mean, it hasn’t been easy? Why? No one knows you are even here.” A thought occurred to him, one he’d been chasing earlier in the evening, before he’d been so delightfully distracted. “Actually, why does no one know you are here? You owe me a story, little wolf.” Aiden sighed, detangled herself, and stood. “Come on, I have to show you something.” Then she realized she was naked, and flushed. Her arms covered the chest and she spun around. Quick steps brought her to her messy closet. She groped for something easy, and came up with a soft grey sweater dress. She pulled it on over her head and turned back to Michael. He was sitting on the side of the bed staring at her, a grin that was almost goofy on his lips. It was her turn to raise her eyebrows.

“What? My mate is stunningly attractive, whether or not she has clothes on. Am I not allowed to appreciate her?” His mock outrage had her giggling. She looked around and spied his grey slacks. She grabbed them up and slung them in his direction. Mostly gently. She giggled again.

Michael sighed dramatically and pulled his pants on, without, Aiden noticed, his boxers on underneath. He turned to her and put his hands on his hips. “Ok, my little- sorry, my tall brat. What is it you want to show me?”

She led him to her door, motioning him to be quiet. As they padded down the silent hallways, she took a moment to appreciate that he was taking her seriously, that he was listening to her. They went down the large central staircase and back through the dining room, into the living room. Aiden spoke quietly. “Ok, we can talk, but not too loud.” Michael nodded.

Aiden walked over to the messy desk tucked in a corner, and pulled the chair out. Getting down on her hands and knees, she felt her skirt raise up, but she needed to finish her quest. There was a small fireproof safe bolted under the desk. She quickly opened it and pulled out a manila envelope. Backing out from under the desk had Michael making appreciative noises. Well, they would see how long that lasted. She sat up and took a deep breath. She stood, turned around, and handed Michael the envelope. There. She’d decided to tell him, and now he had her one piece of evidence, her one hope of protection for her pack, in his hands.   
  


She prayed to the Moon Goddess that her mate- of only hours! Was as good a man as the bond led her to believe. She could feel him even now. He was curious, but calm. He opened the envelope and pulled out a single piece of 8 and half by 11, college ruled, three hole punched paper. His curiosity intensified, but his calm remained unchanged. She could see his eyes reading the brief sentences, and she began to sense his confusion. He read the paper, read it again, his eyes flicked up to meet her, then back down to the paper in his hand.

She could feel it coming, like a gathering storm. His feelings, of confusion and uncertainty, frustration and pride, of hurt and tiredness, grew and grew, until suddenly pouring over her, overwhelming her. She could feel tears streaking her cheeks, but mentally, this was a moment she’d been preparing for her whole life. 

Aiden wasn’t going to die tonight.

She moved, silently, a few feet to the right, putting the door directly at her back. She paused. Michael was staring at the letter, but he wasn’t reading it, he was somewhere in his head.

She began to back up, and was only about 3 yards from the door, when his head drifted up towards where she had been, then his brow creased in confusion. He sniffed, and whipped his head to find her. Oh how she hated it, but she felt pinned in place by his gaze. He once again looked confused. “Come back over here.”

She paused. Here it came. “No.”

There it was. The frustration she could feel was morphing into anger. She couldn’t tell where it was directed, but she had her suspicions. She took a step backwards. Michael stood. She took a second step backwards. Fear made her heart beat faster, brought her wolf close to the surface. Her hearing sharpened, as did her sense of smell. She could hear his breath, quick, and a little heavy. She heard cloth rustle as he turned and put the paper, her paper, on the desk she’d been standing by. He turned back to her, and put his hands on his hips. “Where are you going, Aiden?” His voice was rough where it had been smooth, staccato where it had been liquid silk. Her stomach turned, and she decided.

His eyes sharpened.

She broke for the door, into the dinning room, and flew through it. Through the door, into the foyer, and with a bone crunching thud, out the front doors, into the night.

Aiden launched off the and landed, mostly shifted. Her fur and pads finished painfully growing in as she ran, and her shredded dress fell away. She dashed into the woods. She was a large wolf, and well muscled. She’d shifted quickly, a thing she has always had a knack for. She thanked the Moon Goddess for that gift, as she knew it was gaining her precious seconds. Unfortunately, the Moon Goddess’s other gift, that of a striking coat, in gleaming reddish brown and bright white, was not helping her tonight. The bright waxing moon felt like a spotlight on her distinctive coat.

Oh wait. Oh no. Where was she going?

Dismay grew in Aiden’s heart. Her feet had carried her to a path she’d taken a thousand times in the last few years. It led to Duncan and Annalise’s cabin. To her protector. But she couldn’t go there, could she? She couldn’t mind link her Beta, not like a real Alpha could. She would have to shift back, and get someone to wake up to her help. But, she thought she could hear Michael somewhere behind her. He was so quiet. She didn’t dare look back to check her lead, she just pushed harder. Whatever lead time she had, it wasn’t going to be enough to make going to Duncan’s an effective strategy.

Then where?

Aiden shifted her trajectory and launched off the path into the deeper woods. She angled around until she was running uphill through the trees. Moonlight dappled the ground, then shined on soft, fluffy, white snow, passing under her paws. She could definitely hear him now, most of the time. He was close.

She knew where she was headed, and her heart hurt, her wolf wailed. But she had promised herself a very, very long time ago, that she would never allow herself to be hurt by men. No one, not even her mate, was going to make her break that promise to herself.

So she ran, up, and up, until the bright, high moon, revealed fluffy snow nearly knee deep. Her paws ached from the cold. She hadn’t been on a snow run in too long. She was getting soft. And it was going to get her killed. 

Ahead of her, hidden by snow, was a crevasse, near 20 feet deep, with a bottom full of sharp shale protrusions. You could leap it- if you knew it was there. It was a spot she and Duncan had discussed repeatedly, and the hunters and guards of the pack all knew it was here. It was meant to be used to rid oneself of a pursuer. Permanently.

Aiden broke through the forest line, onto the open rock slopes. She knew that here her coat stood out even more starkly, but she had only moments to go to jump the crevasse.

And for her to watch her mate die.

Suddenly, up was down, left was right, her eyes felt like they were spinning in her skull. She landed bady, on two legs, and one of those was suddenly nauseatingly painful. She crumpled to the ground. Then a freight train hit her. She was bowled over and over. Whatever had just hit went one direction, while she went another. Finally, she lay still, one giant ache, and several acute ouches. Also, her ankle, or her paw, or both, might be broken.

Her heart rate calmed just a fraction, when fear spiked through her like a javelin. It was Michael. Michael was afraid. She tried to stand, and craned her neck around, trying to find him. He was maybe what had hit her? That would make sense. But where- She sniffed deeply, and froze.

His fear was coming from the crevasse.

She burst into motion, then collapsed on the snow. She was in so much pain. But her mate needed help. Everything in her needed to go to him. She shakily stood again, and limped more slowly, but more effectively, towards her mate. She scanned side to side, looking for him, not seeing her imagined image of her mate. Surely he was as black as his hair, right? She drew closer to the crevasse and huffed in surprise before freezing with fear.

A large grey wolf, with fearsome teeth, and long, sharp claws was perched very, very far out over the drop. It was Michael, and his left front and rear paw had both slid off the edge. He’d gained some measure of purchase with his other two paws, but only his straining muscles kept him from falling off the cliff. He didn’t have enough leverage to pull himself up. His eyes were turned towards her, and they were the same green as his human eyes. They plead with her. She stepped forward, limping.

The great grey wolf turned his head away, moving so that his ruff, his back, was to her.

There were only two reasons to turn your back on someone in werewolf culture. One is the shun them. One is to show perfect trust.

Aiden lunged forward, gripped his scruff as hard as her injured body could, and heaved herself backwards, her muscles, ankle, and paw, screaming.

They landed together, a pile of fur and scrapes, chests heaving, bodies tired. Safe.

Finally, the grey wolf nosed the copper and white wolf. Then again. Then licked her nose. The copper and white wolf huffed back, a pain sound. The grey wolf whined in concern. The huff he got in return was, if anything, even more tired and discouraged sounding. The grey wolf stood, and shook himself out. He paced in a circle a few times, then came over, and nose the other wolf, trying to get her to stand up. She didn’t. She just made sad sounds, and licked her wounds. After a minute or two, the grey wolf sat down by her side.


	9. Michael

**Michael**

Michael hated this, he was going to make it stop, make it better. He didn’t wish this for his mate. He nosed Aiden again. Then he licked her nose.

She had tripped, and fallen in a way that made Michael wince. Falling while running at full speed was painful. Then, much to his chagrin, he’d failed to stop in time. When he’d realized that he wasn’t going to be able to stop, he’d pushed off, trying to go over his fallen mate. He hadn’t completely cleared her though. He had sent Aiden rolling, and found himself twisting in the air, scrabbling for grip. He’d landed, but slid. Then. Then he had been half off a damn cliff. He had begun to contemplate the life choices that had led him to this predicament. Then Aiden, beautiful, confusing, hurting Aiden, had limped into view, and hope surged through him. She had stopped and eyed him, and he had looked at her, hoping she would choose to help him. She had clearly been leading him here, but that was for another day. Right then, all he had been able to do was plead with his eyes. Knowing that there was only one way she could grab him that would help, he gave her a level gaze, before turning and offering her his ruff. And his trust. He couldn’t hang on much longer. He needed his mate.

When her teeth had clamped onto his ruff, he had suddenly felt at peace. His mate was here to help. There was nothing they couldn’t do together. Aiden’s enormous thrust backwards, away from the cliff, was enough to tumble them together in a heap. He had lain there, breathing heavily and letting the world stop spinning. Soon though, he nosed Aiden. She didn’t respond, so he did it again. 

And when he licked her nose, she only huffed, so he whined in concern. 

The noise Aiden made next made his heart hurt. She sounded in pain, tired, and defeated.

He stood, shook himself, and walked around her several times, trying to work out all the kinks and bruises. He didn’t manage of course, but at least he felt like a whole wolf again. He moved to her side, and nuzzled into her, trying to get her to stand up. She just made pain noises. She was licking her wounds, and they were healing, but so slowly. He sat down beside her and thought hard.

A moment later, a plan decided upon, he stood and shook, the movement starting at his head and moving all the way down his back and to his tail. Yes, he was in some discomfort, but it would all pass.

This next part was, unfortunately, also going to be pretty uncomfortable. Michael shifted there, knee deep in snow. As soon as his fur left him, he began to shiver, and his feet immediately ached from the cold. He knelt next to Aiden and ran his hands through her thick fur. Yes, she was healing, mostly. In his exploration, he touched her hind paw, and she jerked it away, keening. That needed a doctor.

“Baby, I love you. I need to get you to a doctor. I can carry human-you, but wolves are hard to pick up.” She just whimpered again. “Please, let me help you. You saved my life, let me help you.”

She slowly let a deep breath leave her. And then, under his fingers, her fur started to melt away, leaving that same soft, kissable skin. It was immediately covered in goosebumps.

Michael stood, scooping her out of the snow and cuddling her against his chest. She was shivering, but wouldn’t look at him. Soon, the tree line came into view. Unfortunately, that was a problem. Aiden had led him a very fast paced chase. He wasn’t sure he could make it to the part of the forest without snow, much less to the pack house, not without certain parts of his anatomy, among them his toes, contracting frostbite. He currently could only feel a dull ache, and occasional pins and needles, in his feet. Not, all in all, ideal.

When they passed into the forest, Michael continued till he found a large fallen tree. He brushed part of it off, and sat Aiden down. Standing between her legs, not shivering, but only because of exertion, Michael tried to look into her eyes. She cut them away, refusing to look at him. He raised his hand to stroke her hair, and she flinched. There was something deeply, deeply wrong in all this.

“Aiden,” he said coaxingly, “Please, little wolf. We need to decide what to do.” There was silence in the forest. Her voice, when it came was small, and dull. “I can’t walk. I think I broke something when I fell.”

She began to shiver, and he gently gathered her unresisting form into his arms. “Can you mind link with…..” He was hunting for the name, when she began to shake her head. “I can’t mind link,” she said, miserably. “I can’t link with Duncan, not with anyone.” She paused, and when she spoke, her voice was thick with tears. “I’m not a real Alpha, a real leader.”

That damn near broke Michael’s heart. Where was the stubborn, proud, protective wolf from this evening? He hugged Aiden tighter. He had to help. He didn’t know why Aiden had suddenly turned tail and ran. He suspected it was something he had done, but he wasn’t sure. At a guess, it probably had something to do with the paper he’d dropped in his mad scramble after Aiden. That was for later. Right now, he needed to find them a way out of this cold. He spun in place and reached behind, holding onto her legs. “Ok sweetheart, second best option is a piggy back ride.”

Silence.

He looked over his shoulder. She was staring at him, shocked. He stopped and turned to face her again. This time he caught her chin, but held it as gently as if he was holding a butterfly. He searched her face for answers.

None presented themselves.

“Aiden. We need to get out of this snow, and back to shelter soon. Neither of us will last very long out here, not in human form. And, I’m sorry but- I don’t think I can carry you far enough another other way. So please, my fierce little wolf, let me give you a ride?” His heart soared when she tentatively nodded. He turned and backed up between her legs. “All right, here we go!” He felt backwards along her legs til her hips were in his hands. One strong lift, and some adjustment assistance from his lovely mate, and off they went. They walked for nearly half an hour, and slowly the snow disappeared, leaving a carpet of pine needles and dirt. It was hard, but Michael pushed himself onward with the desire for his mate to see a healer, and with his desire for his mate. It had only been hours, and he was smitten with his tough, no nonsense, beautiful mate.

When they were some minutes past the last snow, Aiden directed Michael to a well hidden lean-to, strategically tucked down in some rocks and out of the wind. When questioned, she just shrugged and said, “Guards.”

Inside were a couple of blankets, in a small tote. Also inside were some emergency rations, which Michael left, and some protein bars, which he happily grabbed up. He opened one and stuck it in his mouth. Opening a second one, he pressed it into Aiden’s hands. Next he pulled the blankets out and grinned. There was a ground cloth underneath. Quickly he put that down inside the lean-to, followed by a blanket. He turned to Aiden and approached slowly, gently. 

“Aiden? I need to get help to bring you back to the pack house. You should shift again, and lay down here-” he pointed to the little nest he’d made. “That, plus your fur should keep you…. well, you’ll be cold, but…..” He took her hand, the one not holding a still uneaten protein bar, and kissed her fingers. “You’ll be safe till I can come back with Duncan and some help.”

Aiden looked up at him, her hazel eyes showing both reluctance and confusion. Eventually, she spoke. “You’re not…. you wouldn’t leave me out here?”

That rocked Michael back on his heels. “No, Aiden, no! Why would- I would never. Little wolf, please,” he pleaded trying to catch her eye again. He brought her hand to his lips again, and kissed, over and over. Something was clearly hurting his mate and he wanted so badly to reassure her. He turned her hand over and laid a kiss in her palm. “Aiden. I will be back soon. Please- shift so that I can cover you?”

She returned to her white and copper coat, and limped painful into the lean-to. Michael covered her with a blanket, and said, “I’m going to be back as soon as I can, with help.”

With that, he whirled into the forest, shifting as he went.

First, he hunted till he found the trail he and Aiden had left in their pell-mell chase, then he followed it back towards the town. It was slower going than the way out had been, because he was using his nose to keep him on track. By the time he hit the small trail near the town, he suspected false dawn was on its way. Well, that would just make the rescue efforts easier. He sniffed along the trail, trying to decide which way to go, when he caught a scent he was almost positive was Duncan’s. He dashed in the direction it was strongest.

Set far off the road, on a dirt driveway with an old, worn out pickup truck, sat an older ranch style house. The smell of Duncan was very strong here. In the yard, there were overlapping layers of pups and women, but Michael knew he’d found the right place to go.

Shifting back to human on the back stoop took an agonizingly long time. Once he was mostly in one piece, he banged on the door.

Nothing moved in the predawn light.

So he did it again.

This time lights in the house snapped on, and in just a moment, the door slammed open, revealing an older but tidy kitchen and a very irate, mostly naked, Duncan. The man started to snap, then saw Michael- covered in cuts and bruises, still letting the last of his fur disappear, and panting.

After a shocked second, Duncan stepped out and closed the door behind him. He rounded on Michael. “Where is she? Is she ok? If you’ve hurt her, I’ll damn well-”

“Stop.” Michael pulled out his alpha voice. It was, in his opinion, a sloppy way to rule, but tonight he’d make an exception. “Aiden fell, her paw is broken. I can’t carry her that far on my own. Gather people, quickly.

Duncan eyed him briefly, before nodding, turning, and moving into the kitchen. He left the door open, and Michael assumed he was meant to follow. Poking his head in, he saw a pretty blonde woman, short, maybe his mother’s age, with lush curves. She saw him as well, her eyes opening wide. Michael opened his mouth, but she turned and hurried away. His jaw snapped shut. He could hear Duncan on the phone giving instructions for several people to meet at his house, as he put to someone on the phone, “Yesterday, Beth. Fucking yesterday.”

How strange this was. This far away, Michael had to call if he wanted to do much more than know Lowe, his Beta, was alive. But at this distance- Duncan, as Beta, should have been able to call to any of the wolves under him. Mind links were much faster and more accurate communication than phones could ever hope to be. This must be what Aiden had been talking about. Perhaps because she couldn’t mindlink with Duncan, the connection to the rest of the pack was severed as well? He’d never heard of it happening, but he’d never met a female Alpha before. And he’d be damned if that wasn’t what she was.

Duncan stomped back into his kitchen, and looked at Michael, hovering in the doorway. He sighed. “Come in and shut the door.”

Michael moved inside and sighed at the relative warmth of the linoleum floor. Duncan noticed, and yelled over his shoulder, “Annalise, bring a pair of my sweatpants!” A moment later, the pretty blonde was back. She handed Michael the sweatpants, while looking anywhere but at him. He turned his back to pull them on, and when he finished, she was already gone. He raised an eyebrow. “I think I frightened your mate. I’m sorry.”

Duncan just made a grumbling noise. “Aww, she’s just checking on the pups. We’ve got our grandkids tonight. Besides, damn women never like it when there’s a fuss.”

At that moment, a banging on the door, followed by raised voices outside, followed by a much quieter, but equally urgent knock, saved Michael from asking what Duncan meant.

Duncan walked into a living room and pulled open the front door. There were three wolves there, in various states of undress. They pushed in all talking at once. Finally Duncan said, “Enough.” It was a flat snap of a word, and it expected immediate obedience. The three wolves, Michael now realized, the three Young wolves, were all men. In their late teens or early twenties, big, well muscled, well fed, Michael knew who these young pups would be in any other pack. Warriors. Here, he suspected, they probably played a more general role, since this pack was so small.

They fidgeted silently, with dirty looks and rolling eyes. Michael didn’t know who or what they were waiting on, but they needed to Go.

There was the sound of a big truck pulling up outside, then slamming doors. The small, heavily muscled, blond woman from dinner walked in, followed by a string bean of a man. Long and lanky, with shaggy brown hair, he looked none too pleased to be awake at…..

Michael checked a clock. Ouch, 4 am.

“What the fuck, Duncan?” The brown haired man growled. “What is so fucking important that you drag Siena and I out of bed in the middle of the night?”

The three younger wolves stopped, and looked expectantly at Duncan. He sighed. “Aiden is in the woods, with a broken paw. The only one who knows exactly where is-” He gestured to Michael. “So we need Siena to guide us to her.”

Michael looked around. The three younger wolves looked uncertain, but worried. Duncan was his impassive self. Siena looked quietly concerned and was staring at Michael. Her mate…. huffed, irate. “Fine. If you want to traipse around in the middle of woods, go for it. But Siena-” He grabbed his mate’s arm and pulled her into his side. “Doesn’t need to be involved. Let Him figure it out.” His voice was acid and he jerked his chin and Michael.

Duncan swelled. He opened his mouth, then stopped. He turned away, let out a long, slow breath, and turned back to the man. “I said. We need Siena. Are you coming, or are you taking her home to pack your things and leave?”

The man stared at Duncan, disgruntlement all over his face. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

In a flurry of orders and movement, they were out the door. Two of the younger wolves disappeared for a moment, and came back with a neat contraption. It was a stretcher, with two harnesses, one on each corner of the front. Duncan saw Michael eyeing it. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had to rescue someone off the mountain.”

The brown haired man leant down and said something in Siena’s ear. She went around a corner of the house, and Michael could hear the clicking and popping of a shift. The men were stripping down and starting to shift as well. Soon, the group stood, 7 wolves together. Michael was easily the biggest, though Duncan and one of the younger wolves were close. Siena stood almost as tall as her mate, who was as lanky in wolf form as he was in human. The two younger wolves, the smaller two, slipped their heads and paws into the harnesses, looked expectantly at Duncan, who looked at Siena. She walked over, sniffed Michael, sniffed where he had come out of the trees, and took off. The rest of their little pack followed.

They ran through the trees, the two wolves carrying the harness lagging a little behind, as they had to find places to work the stretcher through the occasional underbrush. Finally, after a longer run than Michael remembered, he spotted the rock hiding the lean-to. He sprinted towards it, and relief filled him.

Aiden looked up at him, sad and cold, but alive. He nosed her, licked her, snuggled into her. She tried to stand, but was clearly in pain, and her hind paw was swollen enough to see even in this dim light. Michael pulled the blanket off of her, and nuzzled her again, trying to give her comfort. She stood again, this time with her paw almost completely off the ground, and limped painfully out of the shelter. She saw the pack in front of her, and her tail wagged a little. The two wolves with the stretched dragged it in front of her, and she slowly laid herself down onto it.

The wolves immediately turned, mostly smoothly, and headed off in a different direction than they had come from. Michael paced them, at Aiden’s side, and the other 3 ranged around the little group. As dawn broke, they arrived at the packhouse. Aiden’s stretcher was carried to the bottom of the front steps, Duncan, the lanky wolf, and the young wolf who wasn’t carrying a stretcher began to shift back into human form. Siena padded inside and disappeared. The man, whose name Michael still didn’t know, began unstrapping the harnesses. The wolves shook themselves vigorously, then looked at Duncan. The one whose change was now completed turned to Duncan and opened his mouth. He closed it again when Duncan just glared. After a second, and much more cautiously, he said, “D’you need us anymore, Beta?”

“No, go on home. Get some rest. The three of you are excused from training until noon.” Duncan’s voice was tired, but caring. The three young men turned and slipped into the forest again. A moment later Siena reappeared, followed by a sleepy looking Lana, pulling a small suitcase. She saw Aiden and gave a quiet cry, before swooping down on her, her hands gently combing Aiden’s fur, pushing gently on her long bones and ribs, and manipulating her joints one by one. Michael was quietly impressed by her speed and professionalism.

“Aiden, my love, I’m so sorry, but I need you to shift back. And lovey, that paw is going to hurt, so do it slowly.”

Werewolves healed best in wolf form. Even in human form, they healed most scrapes, cuts, and bruises within hours. Broken bones took longer. And shifting while injured was practically guaranteed to be incredibly painful.

Michael stood, rooted to the spot, an Aiden panted heavily for more than five minutes. They were some of the longest of his life. He made himself watch, even though it killed him to know there was nothing he could do to help his mate. The tiny whimpers and sudden sharp in breaths were the only indications that she was in pain. Lana knelt by her side the whole time, gently coaxing Aiden through it. Finally, Aiden lay there, panting and naked. Michael scanned her slowly.

Cuts, mostly minor. A few impressive bruises, including one on her back that would probably take a day or two to heal. Her ankle and foot…. Were badly swollen and turning dark purple. He was right, something was broken. Lana moved to Aiden’s feet and he finally saw her face. Tear tracks streaked through the dirt, and her eyes were closed. Michael gently checked their mate bond. She was sad, and in pain. He tried to push love and comfort through, but it felt like something was in the way.

Lana looked up at Duncan. “I can’t fix this. She needs x-rays, and if we’re really unlucky, surgery.” The older woman covered Aiden gently with a blanket as Michael’s stomach fell. Werewolves had to be very careful going to hospitals, and generally stuck to ones that were mostly by a pack. He looked to Duncan, and the man was scowling as Michael had never seen before. He looked furious and frustrated. Duncan talked over Michael’s shoulder. Oh, Siena and her mate had come out sometime during Aiden’s shift.

“Go. Wake up every warrior on your side of town. If they aren’t all here in an hour, there’s going to be hell to pay.” Duncan looked back down at Lana. “Wake up Rosalie. I want the barracks and the common houses turned out, now. Then have her wake up the oldest pup training group. They’ll come here, to work for you.” 

Lana nodded, stood, and reached down to brush Aiden’s hair out of her face. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. We love you, it will be ok.” She grabbed her case again and practically ran inside.

Duncan looked at Michael. For the first time he seemed uncertain. “Alpha. I assume you want to take her to the hospital yourself?” Michael nodded, and looked across to where his SUV was still parked. He said to Duncan, “We can sit her up sideways in the back seat, and elevate her leg. It won’t be comfortable, but unless you have a better idea…?” Duncan shook his head.

Aiden spoke. Her voice was haggard from pain, but stern. “Duncan, you know I can’t. Lana is just going to have to splint it or something.” Her voice was full of unshed tears, but brooked no disagreement. “So, someone help me up to my room.”

Duncan looked uneasily down at Aiden. He seemed to be about to speak, then turned to Michael, an unsaid plea in his eyes. Michael knelt by Aiden’s head and shoulders. “Why, little wolf? You are hurt, if there is a hospital nearby you can go to, we need to take you. Now.”

Duncan was the one to answer his question. “Because the nearest hospital, the closest one, the only one with 4 hours of us…. Is on BlackMountain Pack territory.”

Maynard, Jim Maynard. That slimy asshole. “He will damn well help my mate, or I’ll rip his throat out.”

Duncan again started to speak, then seemed to think better of it. It was Aiden who spoke next. “If I go to the hospital…. He’ll know I’m hurt. That I can’t lead my pack, my warriors. They will attack. I can’t risk it.”

Of course Aiden was worried about her pack, not her badly broken ankle or foot. He would swear that he couldn’t be any more in love with his mate, but she continued to shatter that assumption.

Michael looked between Duncan and Aide, thinking hard. Rosalie came pelting out of the pack house half dressed, pulling a shirt on as she went. She waved at them as she ran towards the other large building on this little ring of road.

“How many warriors does this pack have?” Michael asked.

“31, but some of those are women, and 5 of them are our oldest pups.” 

Michael nodded. Those weren’t terrible numbers for a pack this small. “And how far away is the hospital?”

Duncan sighed. “A little over an hour. But the BlackMoutain packhouse is between us and the hospital.”

That was a problem. One Michael didn’t actually have a good solution for. “I can have wolves here in 4 hours. Do you think you could hold out that long?” He was trying to remember the information he’d read on the BlackMountain pack, but he’d seen so many packs in the past few weeks. “How big are they? Do you know how many warriors they have?” He pointed to her SUV. “Actually I have a recent file on them in the back seat.”

“I. Said. No.” Aiden’s voice was much clearer this time, and much angrier. Duncan turned and walked towards Michael’s SUV.

“You have to go!” Michael tried again to push love and comfort to her. Again, it felt like he was blocked. “If you don’t get treatment, it might heal badly, then how will you defend your pack?” Aiden flinched, and Michael was immediately regretful. “Please, Aiden, please let me do this. Remember? I said that the calvary was here.” She was silent, regarding him from behind pain filled eyes. “Mate, I need you. I need to take care of you. I won’t do a damn thing without your consent. But please, let me help you and your pack.”

Slowly, like the sun rising at dawn, something warmer, more hopeful crept into her eyes. She raised a hand, and touched his cheek. He clasped a hand to it, holding her there, leaning into her hand. Finally, “Ok. Ok, you can call your wolves. But promise me.” Her eyes hardened. “Promise me none of them will try to hurt Noah and become Alpha.”

Michael chuckled. “None of them will, or I’ll deal with them myself. No one messes with my Luna’s pack.” She blinked up at him, disbelieving. He ducked down and gently kissed her forehead. “I swear, my sweet.”

Duncan came up, holding a file folder. He handed it to Michael. “I took a look while you two were talking. Whoever compiled your numbers is wrong.”

What? That wasn’t possible. “What do you mean, the numbers are wrong.” Duncan just shrugged. “Too low. I’m not sure about the rest of it, the financial stuff, but they have, I dunno, maybe almost a hundred warriors, not 60 or 70. Their pack is big, and they mostly run their town.”

Michael frowned. That much of a discrepancy was almost surely intentional. He didn’t know the who, the why, or the how yet, but he was damn sure going to find out. First Aiden had to take priority though. “Does Lana have painkillers? Good ones?” Duncan nodded. “Aiden. I’m so sorry. Do you think you can hold on a little long?” She looked at him, curious, then nodded. “Good. Duncan, let’s get her inside and as comfortable as possible.”

Together, the two men gently lifted and turned aiden, till she was sitting in a chair made of their arms. The little group went up the stairs, and following Aiden’s directions, into the living room. They settled her into her armchair, and Duncan dragged over a big ottoman, and placed her injured limb on it. Michael pulled a chair as close to Aiden as he could get.

Duncan finished covering Aiden with the blanket, then stepped back and look at the two of them. “Aiden?”

Aiden smiled, and sniffed. “Go Duncan, I trust you to protect this pack. And thank you.”

Duncan nodded, and Michael swore he saw him smile. “I’ll send Rosalie to check on you in a little bit, and I’ll make sure Noah is with Remi.” He turned to look at Michael. Now he looked deadly serious. “If she is your mate. Then she is yours to protect. Maybe she’ll leave with you soon. But right now, we need her to lead us. You damn well better bring her back here.”

With that, he turned on his heel, and quickly departed.


End file.
